BarcelonaEntering the first half of the match in Munich, Gavi went to pressure Bayern’s exit. Xavi had ordered six Barça players to occupy spaces very close to Neuer, to strike fear into the body of the Bavarians in the heart of their area. Gavi was the one running the most, popping up and down. It was as if it had multiplied. In a race, he bumped into Upamecano. The Bayern defender, who was head-butting him, looked at him defiantly, trying to scare the small Andalusian player. On the next play, Gavi brought down Upamecano in a tackle in which he knew how to put his body. “Gavi is not afraid of anything. He has always played against bigger opponents”, says Manuel Vasco, his first coach.
Gavi is one of the pillars in Barça’s future project. A few hours after falling to the Bayern pitch with his head held high, the club announced his renewal until the summer of 2026. As incredible as it may seem, one of the best players in a game of maximum demand in the Bavarians’ field still had a youth record. Gavi made his debut so young that now it seems normal to see him play every game. But the Andalusian footballer just turned 18 a few weeks ago. He is still a teenager, but he has already played against Madrid and Bayern and made his debut for the Spanish national team. In fact, he already knows that this November he will have to leave for Qatar. Luis Enrique gave him his debut when he was 17 years and 62 days old with the Spanish national team, now a year ago. And it wasn’t in a friendly match, it was in the semi-finals of the League of Nations against Italy in Milan. That day Gavi became the youngest debutant in the entire history of the Spanish national team. And Luis Enrique, asked by the press, was quite clear: “You have not yet seen everything he can do”. He was right.
Gavi has become a household name in our lives as easily as he surprised when few knew him. Barça, in fact, had already been clear for a long time that a new contract had to be concluded with him, aware of his talent and kind of seeing how English clubs were asking, unless they had an option to take Gavi out of Barcelona. It wasn’t the case. The player was very clear that he wanted to stay, especially now that Xavi has bet on him without any kind of mania. His new termination clause, in fact, is very high, at 1,000 million euros. A warning to navigators: Barça only understands its future with Gavi in the team. Xavi spent the last season sending messages over and over: “The club cannot afford to lose players like Araujo and Gavi”, he said once it was official that Pedri was renewing. In football, as in life, you have to make decisions. And despite valuing the game of other footballers, the coach from Terrasse had already decided who would be his praetorian guard. This season, in fact, Xavi has only left him on the bench for the Champions League game against Viktoria Plzen.
“Un nen sense por”
To make the new contract official it was necessary to wait for Gavi to be of age and to close the crazy transfer market in order to be completely clear about the salary margin Barça had. Gavi knew he would receive an offer to renew his contract until 2026 on good terms, he just needed to finalize the details. Being so young, he will have a slightly lower salary than players like Ronald Araujo. But he already has his first professional contract at just 18 years old. His renewal was the last file left open in the area of underpinning the future by ensuring the continuity of players like Pedri, Araujo and Ansu Fati. This new Barça, so young, that it is not afraid of any rival.
“He has always been a different child. With a very strong personality. I had him as a pre-teenager and he had to be promoted, as he was smarter than all the others. It was left over, it was much superior. And that has always been small, but it used to be so much. He has always been the smartest of all”, explains Vasco, who trained him at Liara Balonpié, a club in the town of Los Palacios y Villafranca, where Gavi grew up. Vasco is one of those who remember that, in front of a player like him, one of the first temptations is to look at his height. “But he is a very strong player. Physically he has always been privileged, he does not stand still”, he declares, and remembers how one year he almost managed to score 100 goals. Gavi then stood out for his ability to score goals and generate offensive play. It wasn’t until he arrived at Barça that he adapted to a new style, where he also contributes a lot in the offensive field, but is also key when it comes to defending. Always looking forward, clear. Gavi is not one to look back. “He is very brave, he has always had a very strong personality”, says Vasco, who saw how Betis signed him when he was still very young. It was only a matter of time before that happened. Then Barça discovered him at a tournament in the Algarve, spoke to his family and got him to come live at La Masia. In Barcelona, where the future of the club cannot be understood without his unlaced boots.
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