Barca is in danger of losing Gavi
In September 2020, Gavi - at the age of 16 - signed his first professional contract with Barca and was promoted from the U16 team to the U19 team. After a sublime performance in the youth team, he was assigned to the first team by coach Ronald Koeman in the 2021-2022 season, and continued to be used by Xavi.
In September 2022, the owner of Camp Nou extended his contract with Gavi until the summer of 2025 with a release clause of more than 1 billion USD. Earlier this year, Barca planned to sign the Spaniard under the terms of a new contract and let Gavi take over the iconic number 6 shirt - the number that belonged to incumbent coach Xavi while playing. - replace the previous number 30.
However, La Liga refused to let Barca register Gavi to play in the first team because he had exceeded the salary limit. The Catalan club did not agree with this conclusion and submitted a summary to the Commercial Court seeking protection and forcing La Liga to register Gavi's new contract. The judge accepted Barca's request on the grounds that failure to register Gavi would have "irreparable consequences" for the club.
Later, La Liga said Barca had registered Gavi later than the deadline. Therefore, the court withdrew the original ruling - which means that Gavi will be dropped from Barca's first team. However, the 18-year-old midfielder can still continue to play for Barca until the end of the season, but must return to the number 30 shirt.
According to Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo, Barca has continued to file an appeal, but the judge may only make a final decision in the next few weeks or even more than a month. If the application is rejected, Barca risks losing Gavi in the summer of 2023 when the old contract expires. According to The Times, Liverpool are monitoring the incident and may recruit Gavi on a free basis when the transfer window opens.
According to Spanish newspaper Marca, La Liga has a basis to not allow Barca to register Gavi to play in the first team. The Camp Nou team does not have enough budget for the 2023-2024 season and does not comply with at least two provisions of LaLiga's regulations on this issue, including articles 101 and 93.6. In particular, Article 101 stipulates that the extension must take into account the cost of next year's squad, while Article 93.6 requires Barca to come up with a financial plan for the next two seasons, due to the different leverages they have applied. activated in summer 2022.
This is not Barca's only problem at the moment. Last week, Spanish prosecutors charged Barca with repeated bribery related to payments to former Vice President of the Arbitration Council (CTA) Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018.
Earlier this month, La Liga president Javier Tebas said Barca will be banned from the 2023 summer transfer market due to failing to meet financial requirements, and must raise more than $ 200 million to comply with the rules of the tournament. According to British newspaper Sportmail, Barca could sell some stars in the first team, with Raphinha receiving interest from Chelsea and Newcastle.
Gavi was born in Los Palacios y Villafranca, Andalusia, started his career with local club La Liara Balompie and then moved to Real Betis' youth academy. In two years playing here, the midfielder born in 2004 scored 95 goals and was sought after by many of Spain's top clubs - including Villarreal, Real Madrid and Atletico. Barca won this race by accepting a fee of more than 10,000 USD. This season, Gavi has scored two and assisted five goals in 36 games in all competitions.
In 2022, Gavi won both Kopa, the title given to the best U21 player voted by the French magazine France Football, and the Golden Boy - the award given to the best U21 player in Europe. The Barca midfielder is currently valued at $97 million by Transfermarkt, just behind Federico Valverde, Bukayo Saka, Jamal Musiala, Pedri ($108 million), Phil Foden, Jude Bellingham (120), Vinicius (130), Erling Haaland (185) and Kylian Mbappe (195).
