PREMIER LEAGUE
Chelsea make contact with Barcelona’s Gavi
Three weeks ago, representatives met in Madrid with the player’s agent, Iván De la Peña, to launch the operation. Another meeting is planned.
Top of the league and coasting, but Barcelona’s future is far from clear given the controversies surrounding the club, and keeping together their most talented young crop will be front and centre on fans minds. The latest threat to that comes in the form of Pablo Martin Paez Gavira, commonly known as “Gavi,” who is being actively pursued by Chelsea. The English club is eager to take advantage of the fact that the midfielder has yet to acquire a professional contract and will become a free agent in June, making him available at no cost. According to sources, the operation to secure Gavi’s services is already in progress.
Barça fight for Gavi
Three weeks ago, Chelsea’s representatives met with the midfielder’s agent, Ivan De La Pena, for an initial discussion held in Madrid. The representatives of the English club, led by sports director Christopher Vivell, conveyed their desire to sign Gavi and emphasized the important role he would play in their ambitious project for the future, positioning him as a star of the team.
That first meeting in the capital of Spain was very satisfactory for both parties and they agreed to continue moving forward. In fact, a new meeting is scheduled to take place soon to outline in more detail the strategy for the possible signing and acquire a firmer commitment from both parties.
Gavi is very upset with Barcelona for the way the club has handled the issue of his contract and believes it has not been given the priority it deserves. Not surprisingly, the Andalusian midfielder is the current Golden Boy and Kopa Award recipient, which recognize him as the best Under-21 player in Europe.
Chelsea, who spent 360 million on transfers in the recent window, are not only preparing a multimillion-dollar contract for Gavi, but would also reward him with a significant transfer bonus if he finally came up with the letter of freedom. And if Barcelona does not manage to release 200 million of its salary limit before June 30, his current professional contract would not be valid and he would be released, being able to sign for Chelsea at zero cost.
The Gavi mess that could open doors for Chelsea
Gavi began the season from the youth ranks, but on September 15 he renewed with Barcelona with a professional contract until 2026. The Catalan club was able to register him in LaLiga just in time and on January 31 it was announced that the midfielder was changing his shirt number and going from wearing the ‘30′ to wearing the ‘6′. LaLiga refused to accept Gavi’s file, however, as it considered that Barcelona had exceeded the salary limit, with Barça’s legal team then winning the first legal battle, managing to get the court to accept the precautionary measures that temporarily suspended the ban by LaLiga.
On March 25, there was another twist in the script and the court announced that the precautionary measures had been suspended. Consequently, Gavi once again had a youth contract and wore the number 30. Chelsea intends to take advantage of this mess and get the player they have longed for for free. Last season the London outfit had tried to sign him and was willing to pay 50 million for his transfer.
Luis Enrique, one more Gavi incentive
Curiously, days after the summit in Madrid between Iván De la Peña and the Chelsea reps to discuss the signing of Gavi, the first contact between Luis Enrique and the English club took place. It was on April 3, as revealed by AS.
Via a Zoom video call, the coach and the agent held a meeting with Chelsea. Two days later, Luis Enrique, along with his son Pacho and De la Peña, traveled on a private flight to London to meet face to face with Todd Boehly, the club’s owner. After that summit, Luis Enrique went on to enroll the list of candidates for the ‘blue’ bench for next season, the decision being made to give the role to Frank Lampard for the end of this campaign.
The possible arrival of Luis Enrique to the Chelsea bench would be one more incentive for Gavi to change Barcelona for London, since the Asturian is the one who has bet the most on Gavi, making him a Spanish international with only a few games in the top flight under his belt, and both maintain a strong relationship.