The agent of Sao Paulo starlet Gustavo Maia has revealed that his client chose to agree terms with Barcelona despite interest from Liverpool and Atletico Madrid.
The Spanish giants have secured the first option to sign the 19-year-old, despite the youngster being yet to make his first-team debut for the Brazilian outfit.
Maia's agent Nilson Moura has now revealed that both Liverpool and Atletico made "more lucrative offers" for the winger, but that the player favoured the chance of a move to Barcelona.
"The one who saw him was a scout from Barcelona. We started talking and there was the possibility of them trying to sign him. Andre Cury [Barcelona's Brazilian scout] did not participate. The negotiation was directly with them," Moura told Marca.
"They came to see him at the Copa Sao Paulo. He scored three goals and we started negotiating. They didn't even want to close anything immediately, but because there was interest from other clubs like Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, they were quicker to do so.
"He's good with his left as well, but his strong point is his right. He's different from Vinicius Jr or Rodrygo, he has his own style. There were more lucrative offers, but he always wanted to play for Barcelona. He even said it some years ago in an interview and we saw it as a good idea too, because his style matches perfectly with Barcelona's."
Barcelona paid €1m (£889,000) to have the first option on his signature, but they must exercise that by July 30 at the latest, when they would then have to pay a further €3.5m (£3.1m).
Barney Corkhill
