Gavi is no longer a Barca first team player
According to British newspaper The Athletic, the court's latest ruling means that the release clause that allows Gavi to leave for free in the summer of 2023 is in effect again. The source said Barca intends to take further legal action and has about 20 days to appeal the latest ruling in the Provincial Court.
Gavi's extension is considered a complicated situation and has become the focus of the tense relationship between Barca and La Liga over the past half year.
In September 2020, Gavi - at the age of 16 - signed his first professional contract with Barca and was promoted to U19. After a sublime performance here, he was assigned to the first team by coach Ronald Koeman in the 2021-2022 season, and continued to be used by Xavi.
In September 2022, the owner of Camp Nou extended his contract with Gavi until the summer of 2025 with a release clause of more than 1 billion USD. But then, he was still registered as an academy player.
This new contract includes a clause allowing the Spanish midfielder to leave on a free basis if Barca do not register him as a first-team player by June 30, 2023. The owner of the Camp Nou can only promote Gavi as a first-team player when the transfer window opens.
Earlier this year, Barca submitted an application to register the Spaniard under the terms of a new contract and let Gavi take over the iconic number 6 shirt - once belonged to current coach Xavi - in place of the number 30. But. By the end of January, Barca was still denied by La Liga to register Gavi to play in the first team because he had exceeded the salary limit. Therefore, before the mid-season transfer window closed, Barca sought another legal ruling without La Liga's knowledge to force the organizers to register Gavi in the first team list.
According to court documents, when presenting the lawsuit, Barca argued that La Liga's decision to refuse to register Gavi was part of a "harassment campaign" against the club, and was supported by the judge. On January 31, the Barcelona court issued a temporary ban, forcing La Liga to register Gavi as a first-team player of Barca, and give the club 20 working days to file a separate lawsuit, thereby reaching a goal. a permanent solution for Gavi to play as a first team player.
After Barca submitted the documents on March 2, La Liga protested by claiming Barca was one day late for filing. Last week, in a document sent to both sides, the court ruled in La Liga's favor that Barca submitted the document after the deadline. The court gave the Camp Nou owner five days to respond before making a final decision on Gavi's contract.
On March 21, La Liga confirmed that the court had made the final decision, canceling the temporary ban forcing them to recognize Gavi's first team registration. La Liga said it will change the registration of the Spanish midfielder back to the youth team player in the coming days.
Meanwhile, Barca continued to claim that they had submitted the necessary paperwork on time and intend to appeal further.
This is not Barca's only problem at the moment. On March 10, Spanish prosecutors charged Barca with repeated bribes related to payments to former Vice President of the Arbitration Council (CTA) Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018.
In early March, La Liga President Javier Tebas said Barca would be banned from the 2023 summer transfer market due to failing to meet financial requirements, and must raise more than $ 200 million to comply with the rules of the tournament. . Barca could therefore sell some of their first-team stars, with Raphinha attracting interest from Chelsea and Newcastle.
