Barcelona may end up hanging on to Gavi’s sentiment for the club in ordder to hang onto him this summer. Chelsea appear determined to secure his signature and it appears money will be no object for the player.
Diario AS, who broke the story of the first meeting between Chelsea and Gavi’s agent Ivan de la Pena, claim that Gavi will be given a ‘blank cheque’ to sign on with the London club. They are content to make him one of the best-paid players in the Premier League.
This would seem to be corroborated by La Portera de Nunez, who describe the offer as ‘too much money’, although still retaining faith that Barcelona can retain him.
Es mucho dinero.
Yo no veo a Gavi fuera del Barça, pero…
Es mucho, mucho, mucho dinero.
"Too much money", me dice Bridgette desde las oficinas de los blues en Londres. pic.twitter.com/9ksauGHvWX
— La portera de Núñez (@porteranunez) April 12, 2023
That said, Barcelona can guarantee their position if they manage to register him before July. The Blaugrana have a €180m gap to make up in their salary limit during that time, meaning they will need to make sales and cuts to that amount in order to register Gavi. If they do not do so, his contract until 2026 wiil become void, and he will be a free agent.
This issue had been highlighted in January, when Barcelona were unable to register him despite letting go of Memphis Depay. The pressure will be on Joan Laporta to retain Gavi by hook or by crook, knowing that it would be one of the most damaging and embarrassing losses in Barcelona’s modern history. Having used their available salary limit to sign players like Pablo Torre, Hector Bellerin, Marcos Alonso and Rahinha, players who are contributing much less, it would be an indictment on the club’s management.
