Barcelona sought to strengthen in January ahead of the second half of the season following the loss of Memphis Depay to La Liga rivals Atletico Madrid.
However, league administrators decided that this month’s club cannot accept any new players.
The first team contracts of Gavi and Ronald Araujo, however, might potentially be registered in their place, allowing the former to take ownership of the number six shirt famously worn by their manager Xavi Hernandez during his stint at the club.
However, despite Gerard Pique no longer being listed as a Barcelona player as of Wednesday, it looks that this will also not be allowed.
Despite having retired in November, according to Relevo, the seasoned defender was still listed on La Liga’s roster up until just yesterday.
With Pique’s salaries off the books, Barcelona is now getting closer to the 1/1 rule for transfers that La Liga adopted.
Despite this, the league continues to believe that Barca lacks the funds necessary to register Gavi, which is the club’s top priority, according to RAC-1 (via Relevo).
La Liga claims that the club won’t even have the funds in the summer, therefore they must come up with a plan with league officials to demonstrate that their financial situation is becoming better.
It will be possible for Barca to sign Gavi and other first team contracts whenever La Liga is satisfied.
Along with Gavi, Ronald Araujo’s contract, which was reached in April 2022, is yet to be registered with LaLiga.
According to reports, both players are optimistic that the club can find a quick solution to the problem.
The expenditure cap for Barcelona has been significantly lowered due to the club’s previous financial struggles.
In an effort to rectify the situation and register its summer signings, the club sold off a number of assets last year, including 25% of their domestic broadcast rights for the following 25 years and a 49% ownership in Barca Studios.
Their spending cap was raised by roughly €800 million as a result, but considering the severity of the issue, it is still limited.
Over the past two years, Gavi has developed into a crucial player for Barcelona and Spain.
He has played in 17 league games for Barcelona this year, and he was named the 2022 Golden Boy for best player under 21 in Europe.
Barcelona Summer Signing Saga
With only two days to the start of Barcelona’s 2022–23 league campaign, LaLiga forbade the club from registering its five summer acquisitions, who cost the club roughly £140 million in total.
With acquisitions like the prolific striker Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich and former Leeds talisman Raphinha, a team more than £1 billion in debt has made a desperate drive to spend more money than any side in Europe.
Fans have compared the team to a friend who tells you they can’t pay you back for the £20 you owe you but then spends lavishly at the pub on a Friday night.
Fans of Barcelona will never forget the sight of Lionel Messi, the best player to ever play the game and the club’s greatest asset, wiping away tears as his upper lip quivered in sadness and grief during his forced departure for Paris Saint-Germain.
The club paid Messi more than £460m over the course of his final contract extension, which was in 2017.
The team whose motto is mes que un club grew more like Messi’s Club as his pay increased in ten years.
The club raised money to survive last summer by utilizing economic levers, or palancas.
They also sold a fourth of their in-house TV company, Barca Studios, as well as future TV rights, which in Spain are paid club-by-club rather than to the league as a whole.
In essence, the club mortgaged their future.
Gavi
Pablo Martn Páez Gavira, also known as Gavi, is a Spanish professional football player who competes for both the Spain national team and La Liga club Barcelona. He was born on August 5, 2004, and plays as a central midfielder.
Gavi was born in Andalusia’s Los Palacios y Villafranca. He spent two years, from 2010 to 2012, at La Liara Balompié, a club in his birthplace, where he began his career.
After that, he spent two seasons in the youth academy of Real Betis.
For the Real Betis youth team, he scored 95 goals.
He joined Barcelona in 2015 when he was just 11 years old.
He joined the Catalan club in September 2020, where he signed his first professional contract and was swiftly promoted from the under-16 team to the under-19 team.
He made his Barcelona B debut on February 21, 2021, in the 6-0 home victory over L’Hospitalet, replacing Nico González in the 77th minute.
The following 14 March, in a 1-0 derby victory against Espanyol B at the Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque, he made his debut for Barça B.
He debuted for Barcelona’s first squad on August 29, 2021, in a 2-1 La Liga victory over Getafe, coming on to replace Sergi Roberto in the 73rd minute.
He made his club debut on December 18 and contributed an assist in a 3-2 victory over Elche at home.
In a 3-1 victory over Real Madrid in the Supercopa de Espaa Final on January 15, 2023, Gavi not only scored a goal but also contributed two assists, earning him the title of player of the match.
