Golden Boy Gavi upset with Barcelona over Mbappe

Stuart Telford

8 Aug 2023 07:30 CDT
3 min read

Gavi has sought reassurances from Barcelona boss Xavi after reports suggesting he could be used in part-exchange in an attempt to bring Kylian Mbappe to the club from Paris Saint-Germain.

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PSG left Mbappe at home during their pre-season tour of Japan and South Korea with the club firmly in the belief that the France striker has already agreed to join Real Madrid on a free transfer at the end of the season.

The club are desperate to offload Mbappe for a significant sum this summer instead, and although Barca remain €1.35 billion in debt, they had been linked with a bid that would include Gavi, Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha as makeweights.

While Barca have disputed the veracity of such reports, Gavi was still worried enough by the story - first put out by French daily Le Parisien - that he sought reassurances from his head coach.

How much is Gavi worth? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/E58GhtBjEY
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Xavi met with Gavi

"The coach met with the midfielder to make it clear that he is a very important player for him and reminded him that he considers him untouchable," write Mundo Deportivo. "The player was upset by the information that the Catalan club had offered him to PSG.

Gavi succeeded Barca teammate Pedri as European football's Golden Boy last October, and it is widely understood that those two and top scorer Robert Lewandowski are considered untouchable, even though La Liga have told the club to reduce their debt by €200m ahead of next season.

Gavi, who is valued at €86.7 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, started 30 of his 36 games as Barca won La Liga 10 points clear of Real Madrid last season, and Xavi subsequently went public on his appreciation of the player.

"He's going to be essential for us," he said ahead of the Blaugrana's meeting with Tottenham Hotspur at the Camp Nou on Tuesday. "He's pure passion, a differential footballer. Nothing has changed, other than his back injury. He'll be very important for us."