March 21, (THEWILL) – In a major blow to Barcelona’s plans for the future, a court in Barcelona has ruled against the club in their efforts to register 18-year-old Gavi’s new contract.
Despite agreeing to terms earlier this season, Barcelona was blocked from registering the deal by La Liga, citing the team’s need to lower their wage budget. This ruling leaves Gavi technically still on his youth contract, with just three months left to run.
While Gavi will still be able to play for Barcelona this season, albeit as a youth player, the ruling creates an intriguing situation for the upcoming campaign. With Gavi’s original contract set to expire at the end of the season, he will not be automatically retained in the squad next season unless Barcelona can get under their wage budget.
Despite the uncertainty, Gavi remains focused on staying at Camp Nou next season. That notwithstanding, a number of top European sides, including Manchester City, Liverpool, Paris Saint-Germain, and Bayern Munich, have been keeping a close eye on the situation and could reignite their interest in the highly-rated teenager.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
