There are several players in world football that exist on a plane of reality of their own and are treated as such. Players that don't abide by the same selection or transfer rules as others if their situation changes. Barcelona's Gavi is certainly one of them.
At 18 he is already one of the most unique and talented players of his generation. His ability to blend the Xavi and Andres Iniesta grace with an inside forward that Mauricio Pochettino would pure about is astonishing. There are times when players are said to go too early, and be given too much responsibility and expectation placed upon them, Gavi isn't like that.
The way he blends midfield and attack, operating neatly but under the radar in half-spaces outside of enemy detection is the stuff of wizardry. To have such command of a ball, the tempo of a game and the spacial awareness around him is not normal.
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As such, when there is a sniff of signing someone like Gavi, everyone sits up a little. Ears twitch and the TV is turned up that bit louder. Someone of Gavi's mould, talent and skill does not come up every year or even decade. They come up even less as a potential free transfer option.
It is, as it could only be, extremely Barcelona to even be in this situation. Would any other club get themselves into the position whereby their new title-winning starlet set to dominate European football midfields for years to come could be cast aside for the return of a greying Lionel Messi?
The only team that have been as lax in the market in the past years is perhaps Chelsea. This is why there is sheer beauty but also total senselessness in their reported interest for Gavi. Outlets in Spain have said that the Blues are amongst a group of elite teams monitoring his precarious position. No surprises there.
Chelsea have practically been scouting all newborns across the continent and further adrift since Todd Boehly and Co took over. They have already added England youth jewel Carney Chukwuemeka, Italy's own crowning kid Cesare Casadei and a whole load more talented youngsters to their set-up. Such is the competition at youth level they are once more losing their own products and graduates.
Should they sign Gavi, he'd probably end up at wing-back anyway.
Pochettino would have something to say about that. He has a thing with wide midfielders. Christian Eriksen and Dele Alli at Tottenham, specifically. Mason Mount is the perfect profile for that role at Chelsea but he might not get as far as being blitzed by an infamous fitness session from the incumbent new head coach.
Chukweuemka himself has characteristics that make him a solid option on paper. He has been largely ignored since Christmas, though, and in typical Chelsea fashion, a throwback to the Roman Abramovich era, is more likely to head out on loan next season, football.london understands.
So, Gavi. His contract is up at the end of the season after it wasn't registered with La Liga, however that happens. He has made it clear that he is quite keen on staying at Camp Nou - or wherever they play games next season - but it's not as easy as just saying that. Messi didn't want to leave and was effectively left stranded. Sorry, kid, but if Messi can't do it then Gavi has little chance. You're good, but you're not Messi.
"I want all of you to be calm on my future… I’m very calm,’ Gavi told Movistar with words that immediately make people panic. "Since I was little I’ve wanted to stay at Barca, it’s my dream club, I always say it. Don’t worry, let everyone be calm."
Enter Chelsea? He makes sense to some extent. A brilliant midfielder with perfectly profiled for the new head coach and for no real cost. It's a no-brainer. But Gavi isn't what Chelsea need, here. They signed their own version, slightly older, remarkably less experienced at the top level but with a World Cup trophy, have that.
Enzo Fernandez is the dictator of the ball in Gavi style. He doesn't have the ability to play off the flank but he does have a lot of other intertwined skills. Anyway, having two players of that quality isn't the problem, it's what Chelsea still don't have. Gavi doesn't answer the gaping Declan Rice - for want of a better description - shaped hole at the heart of the pitch.
Just like Fernandez cannot shine without a destroyer next to him, Gavi would also benefit. Andrey Santos is a talented teenager himself but isn't the new Nemanja Matic. There are midfield options for Chelsea and even though they could shrink over the summer it's less about numbers and more about style.
It's Gavi, though. Nobody turns him down. You'd have to be, well, Chelsea, to even consider it.
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