Gotham FC transfers Gabi Portilho to San Diego Wave FC after one year | OneFootball

After one trophy-laden season, Brazilian Gabi Portilho is on the move from NJ/NY Gotham FC, transferring to San Diego Wave FC. This trade sees the NJ/NY side acquire $175,000 in intraleague transfer funds. Portilho joined Gotham before the 2025 season on a free transfer from Brazilian side Sport Club Corinthians Paulista. The 30-year-old is in the last year of her current contract with a mutual option for 2027. She managed six goal contributions in 23 matches with the Bats.

While Portilho was considered Gotham's "big" offseason acquisition last year, she did not make the impact many were expecting. While it started with a bang with her scoring the first goal of the season against Seattle Reign FC, her season was plagued by injury and inconsistency in front of the goal. Add into that the acquisition of Jaedyn Shaw, the signing of collegiate free agent forwards Jordynn Dudley and Andrea Kitahata, as well as expected second-year jumps from Khyah Harper and Sarah Schupansky, Portilho's spot on the team became more unclear.

The writing was potentially on the wall that Portilho wasn't long for Gotham when she saw zero minutes in their Championship game victory over the Washington Spirit. The acquisition of Shaw, as well as Rose Lavelle's strong form in the second half of the season, meant Portilho became less important than she was at the beginning of the year when Midge Purce was coming back from her ACL injury. Plus, they were figuring out how to deal with the loss of Lynn Biyendolo.

The trade makes sense for Gotham FC

While in a vacuum, $175,000 seems low, especially compared to San Diego's other big forward acquisition in Ludmila. In reality, it is a pretty good piece of business. Portilho joined for free last year and being able to make $175,000 in profit on a 30-year-old after one, not so great, year is pretty good asset management. There is, of course, every possibility that the forward sees improvement in 2026, even at her age, but it was somewhat unlikely she would have that same level of improvement at Gotham FC.

The main reason for this trade was that the team needed to get down to the 26-player roster limit after Tierna Davidson was activated from the SEI list. And while there were other, more expected moves to get down to 26 players, a potential loan for Stella Nyamekye, Teagan Wy, or Ryan Campbell, Gotham's forward depth meant Portilho became expendable.

While loans for one or even two of those players are still possible, those might be midseason moves that align with the start of the next Gainbridge Super League season in August, the return of Taryn Torres from the SEI list, or to make space on the roster for a late-season acquisition for the playoff push.

Overall, while this move does make sense for both Gotham FC and San Diego, it is still disappointing to see it happen. Portilho was not only popular with fans but amongst her teammates as well. Many were hoping she would end up being impactful. That just did not quite materialize last year, which saw her jumped in the depth chart by some of the younger players on this team.