In an attempt to reduce the wage bill and make room in their squad, Barcelona confirmed they have terminated Gustavo Maia’s contract by mutual consent. The Brazilian winger arrived at the club in 2020 from Sao Paulo, but he never had much playing time even with the reserve team.
Maia was signed when Josep Maria Bartomeu was still at the helm of the club, and it’s one of the signings that raised many eyebrows as Barca forked out a reported €4,500,000 when he was only 19. Now, Maia hopes to get his career back on track at Vila Nova FC in Brazil’s second division.
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Gustavo Maia’s unsuccessful time with Barcelona
Even though the Catalan club seemed to bet on his talent, Maia never made it to the senior squad. He spent just one season with Barca Atletic, where he racked up only 283 minutes across eight appearances in the 2020-21 campaign. In the summer of 2021, Maia returned to Brazil to play for Internacional, where he spent a year and a half on loan before joining Valencia’s reserve team also on a temporary deal.
Barcelona have sold Gustavo Maia to Brazilian second division side Vila Nova.
The 22-year-old, who failed to live up to expectations, was one of the last signings made by the club under the presidency of Josep Maria Bartomeu. pic.twitter.com/u3JxrV7mEN
— Football España (@footballespana_) July 23, 2023
The Ches decided not to trigger an option to buy, so the Sao Paulo product had to return to Barcelona, where he was still under contract until 2025. However, there was no room for the 22-year-old neither on the senior nor on the reserve squad. Now it’s time to start from scratch for Maia, who still has plenty of time to prove why he caught Barca’s eye at some point in his career.
