Gavi: The FC Barcelona youngster with the undone laces who was ‘born’ for the big stage

Barcelona step out in Munich on Tuesday evening at risk of exiting the Champions League before Christmas for the first time in 20 years.

Only victory against Group E winners Bayern Munich will guarantee the avoidance of another damaging blow for a club heavily indebted off the field and diminished on it by the departure of Lionel Messi.

Fresh from his first defeat as coach against Real Betis, Xavi is not helped by the continuing absence of the two trailblazers among the teenaged talents that Barcelona have turned to for inspiration – Ansu Fati and Pedri, both injured – but in 17-year-old Gavi, they can at least count on one teenager with the mettle for such occasions.

After all, this is the youngster whom national coach Luis Enrique made Spain’s youngest player – at 17 years and 62 days – in the Nations League final semi-final against Italy in October, and who followed that up with a nerveless display in his country’s decisive last World Cup qualifier against Sweden.

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Gavi’s performance in midfield that night prompted Marca to describe him as “the kind of competitive animal that appears only once in a while”. His rapid rise has led to rumoured interest from Chelsea. None of which comes as a surprise to Manuel Basco, who first coached him more than a decade ago.

Pablo Páez Gavira – to use Gavi’s full name – was just six when Basco first set eyes on him at La Liara Balompie, an amateur club in Los Palacios y Villafranca, a town 30 minutes south of Seville.

Gavi back in his days at La Liara Balompie (Photo: Manuel Basco)

Remembering his first glimpse of the little lad with the undone bootlaces, Basco tells i: “You could see very quickly that it wasn’t normal for a boy of six to be able to carry the ball forward in the way he did and compete as he competed.

“You can teach them some things at that age but that’s something he was born with – it was inside of him.”

Enforcing the point, he pulls from his pocket Gavi’s first club registration card and adds: “I said to my daughter Ana, ‘I’m keeping his card because he is going to play in the first division.’ She said, ‘Dad, he’s only six’ but I said, ‘We’ll see’.”

We are speaking inside a clubhouse whose walls are adorned with old team photos – including one of the under-8s group that Gavi belonged to between 2010 and 2012, prior to his departure up the road to Real Betis. In 2015, following a 95-goal season with Betis, he moved on to Barcelona.

Basco, Gavi’s first coach, in the clubhouse at La Liara Balompie

Of the six teenagers who have played for Barcelona in La Liga this term, Gavi – the youngest – has made the most appearances (13), both in his natural position in midfield and in a wide attacking slot (as he will likely do against Bayern).

“He has a very good final pass and can get forward,” adds Basco. “Right now he’s more conscious about not making a mistake but when he gets a bit stronger, he’ll get up there and score goals.”

What is not in question is the teenager’s fortitude, highlighted in his early Spain outings.

“It’s not usual for a boy of 17 to be able to cope with the pressure of a full stadium,” says Basco. “To make your debut against Italy and show no nerves shows he has a lot of personality.”

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Basco, who still exchanges WhatsApp messages with Gavi, remembers the early signs: “When these boys are six you have to change them often during games but you could leave him out there easily. He was very strong.”

He also explains how Gavi later insisted that his father Pablo return south for the sake of his sister Aurora, despite the club having found him a job in Catalonia.

Among Barcelona’s brightest starlets, Ansu, Pedri and Nico González – son of Deportivo La Coruna icon Fran – have all signed new contracts this year. Barcelona hope that Gavi, whose current deal until 2023 has a buyout clause of just €50m, will follow suit imminently.

Los Palacios y Villafranca – also the hometown of ex-Manchester City winger Jesús Navas – has marked his progress in a different way with its Joven del Ano 2021 (Young Person of the Year) prize.

For all Gavi’s progress, one quirk from his La Liara days endures – his habit of playing with loose bootlaces.

Since he was a kid Gavi has never bothered re-tying his laces when they come undone (Photo: Getty)

“Normally when the boys’ laces become undone, they just stop or go out to the wing but he wasn’t bothered – he’d just carry on,” says Basco of a youngster who will need all that focus and more to help Barcelona avoid tripping up in Munich.

from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/3pB1ra2