This name may no longer mean anything to you. In August 2015, while Paris Saint-Germain was recruiting Angel Di Maria, Layvin Kurzawa, Serge Aurier and even Kevn Trapp, a complete stranger arrived in the capital: Gustavo Hebling. Aged 21 at the time, the Brazilian midfielder arrived in Paris from São Paulo with the label of a player who was part of the Mino Raiola team. However, it was not even PSG who made their arrival official first… but PEC Zwolle. “PEC Zwolle strengthens with Gustavo Hebling. The midfielder, transferred from São Paulo to Paris Saint-Germain, signed for five seasons before being loaned here for two years by the French champions. » Something to surprise. Trained in São Paulo, he participated in the U17 World Cup with Brazil in 2013 and was part of a generation of young Paulista talents made up, among others, of David Neres, Luiz Araújo, Éder Militão and Bremer.
Recruited by PSG… where he never played
On paper, the Rouge et Bleu seemed to have hired a nugget in the making. In fact, it didn’t really go as planned. Immediately sent on loan, Hebling immediately went to the Netherlands (PEC Zwolle) and Portugal (Portimonense). With Zwolle, he played 11 matches (1 assist) with the first team and 10 with the U21s (1 assist). At Portimonense it’s worse. Hebling has never played for the A team and has only 2 appearances for the U23s. But he was transferred permanently to the Portuguese club in August 2017, before leaving Europe in 2020. Recruited by the modest team Centro Sportivo Alagoano (CSA), which then played in the Brazilian second division, Gustavo Hebling spoke of his time at PSG. A club where he has never played an official match.
“I left home when I was 11. I left for São Paulo, where I stayed until I was 19. It is a training center that I consider one of the best places in Brazil to develop. I was very happy there. I managed to integrate all the categories of the Brazilian selection, I played in the Copa Sudamericana, the World Cup… I think that my journey in this training center was very fruitful. At one point we failed to reach an agreement to renew my contract and, with all these problems, that’s when PSG made me an offer. They presented their project to me. I already knew that I would go there, but it would be in the form of a loan, partly because there was no place for foreigners at the time and partly because I had never played professionally. It was more about adapting and, in the future, maybe being able to go back. I stayed two years in the Netherlands, where it is very difficult to adapt, because of the language and the cold. I went to Portugal and stayed there for two and a half years (at Portimonense). As I didn’t have many opportunities, I had the chance to come and defend the CSA”he declared to Globo in 2020.
A first trophy won in 14 years of career
Then, Hebling moved on to small second-class Brazilian clubs (Remo, XV Piracicaba, Oeste, ABC Inter Limeira, Nacional AM) and also tried his luck in Romania in 2023 (FC Botosani). Returning to the country in 2024, Hebling now plays for state championship clubs. Arriving at Nacional AM at the start of 2025, he lost the Amazon championship on the final day in April, but he helped his team secure a place in Série D, the Brazilian fourth division. Last May, he then returned to XV Piracicaba, the club in which he played between 2020 and 2022. A profitable comeback. After 14 years of career, Gustavo Hebling failed to shine in the biggest clubs in Europe, but he finally lifted the first trophy of his career: the Paulista Cup won last October.
“I haven’t realized yet. It’s a magical moment in my career. I try to make the most of it. My grandmother lives near here. We came on foot to watch the matches. I always dreamed of playing here. It’s a magical moment in my career. The supporters are exceptional. We saw what they did. I’m living a dream. My training was very successful. I won almost all the titles, I played in the national team, I went to the World Cup (U17). And I had the opportunity to go to Europe. I left very young, with no experience. I saw my family every weekend. Then I went to another country, where I didn’t speak the language. Everything was a learning experience. In Portugal I didn’t have a good experience. This is where I had the opportunity to come back to Brazil. I became a better man. I needed to mature”he said after the match. A minor trophy savored at the age of 29 as a reward after years spent wandering between two continents trying to make a mark. “He left very young. We lived through this situation for several years, encouraging it from afar. The world of sport is very difficult. We feel very alone. We make a group of friends and shortly after, everything changes. Saturday was the result of everything we have experienced so far”confided Raquel, his mother. “A feeling of duty accomplished”added Danilo, his father. Failing to have found happiness in a major European club, Gustavo Hebling ended up finding it in a more modest environment, but close to his family.
