According to reports, it has been claimed that Barcelona teenage prodigy, Pablo Gavira has “rejected” Pep Guardiola’s offer to move to the Etihad after reports emerged that the Manchester City boss has been a keen admirer of the Spaniard’s style of play. The Mirror.
Gavin, 17, has seen an astronomic rise in his stocks after making his first-team debut for FC Barcelona under former manager Ronald Koeman. The midfielder is a regular starter in Xavi’s XI pushing the likes of Frenkie De Jong and Riqui Puig down the order with his style of play being hailed as top-notch by many pundits.
Barcelona have been slow to get off the blocks this season with the departures of club talisman, Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann before the start of this season. The Barcelona youth academy, La Masia has come to the rescue of the Spanish giants with several teenagers in Pablo Gavi, Nico Gonzalez, Abde Ezzazouli, and Ilias Akhomach climbing the ranks.
The source further adds that the 17-year-old has a release clause of £42 million in his current deal with the Catalan giants. That clause has certainly turned several Elite clubs towards signing the next big thing of Spanish football for a reasonable price before Barcelona sign an extended contract with the midfielder, with the negotiations said to be progressing at a rapid pace.
However, Spanish outlet El Nacional claims that the youngster has already turned down an offer from Pep Guardiola. It further adds that Gavi “will reject the proposal of reigning Premier League champions, even though it is very tempting” as he wants to remain at Barca and develop under Barca legend Xavi Hernandez.
Having said that, former Premier League champions, Liverpool have contacted Gavi’s agent but the 17-year-old had turned down their offer even after the English club offered him double his current wages. The report concludes that Gavi does not speak English and his adaptation would be “quite slow and complicated”.
In my opinion, Gavi is at the heart of Barcelona’s resurrection, and Xavi’s admission after the Bayern match that he just requires 11 Gavi’s on the pitch signifies his importance in the current Blaugrana set up. City will have to work extremely hard if they are to sign Gavi.