“Our financial situation is causing us to lose him to Arsenal.”The manager of Barcelona, Hansi flick, was dejected when he revealed that the highly-regarded £90 million star is about to finalize a shocking free transfer to Arsenal this summer. Not Raphinha, not De Jong, and not Ferran Torres
This summer, Mikel Arteta may surprise everyone by joining Arsenal as a Barcelona star.
The Barcelona star has been embroiled in a protracted money dispute, and the most recent development may result in the highly sought-after teenager departing this summer for free.
Gavi, a midfield player for Barcelona, will soon resume his status as an academy player at Camp Nou. According to the Athletic, this La Liga decision is the most recent development in a protracted financial dispute regarding the registration of the new contract he signed back in September.
As a result of this development, his release clause, which permits him to leave for any reason, will return to effect, allowing him to leave on a free transfer this summer. Although it won’t stop Gavi from playing for the Catalan team as usual, it is a significant setback to their hopes of keeping hold of the highly sought-after player.
Barcelona, however, is apparently going to challenge the court’s decision and pursue additional legal action in this regard. The 18-year-old’s shirt number will change back to his previous number 30, rather than the six he currently wears, in the interim.
The problem arises from La Liga rejecting Gavi’s new contract because they believe the league leaders are spending more than they are allowed to after the season.
In September, Gavi inked a contract extension with the Spanish powerhouses that would last until 2026. However, the Spain international was still listed as an academy player at this time.
A clause in his new contract allowed him to leave for free if, by June 30, 2023, Barcelona had not officially registered him as a first-team player. Only during a transfer window can a player be promoted to the first team, and both of this season’s windows have now passed.
Due to La Liga’s strictures regarding salary cap violations and the requirement to make significant financial cuts before the upcoming season, Barca was unable to finalize this change by the end of January.
Things took a bad turn when, without informing the league, the club filed a lawsuit to compel the competition body to register Gavi as a first-team player.
The Catalan team was successful in their legal battle, in which they maintained that Gavi’s case rejection by the league was the result of “a harassment campaign.” A Barcelona court issued a temporary injunction on the last day of the January transfer window to compel La Liga to register the midfield player as a first-team player.
Barcelona eventually filed papers on March 2, after the club was granted 20 working days to file an independent case. La Liga, on the other hand, contested their submission, claiming they had missed the deadline by one day.
In support of La Liga’s argument, the court last week granted Barcelona five days to reply before reaching a final decision regarding Gavi’s registration. The court had once again issued a final decision on Tuesday, lifting the temporary injunction and returning Gavi to academy status.
Barcelona is reportedly planning to file additional appeals, as they maintain that they submitted the required paperwork on time. If the Golden Boy award winner becomes a free agent this summer, there will surely be a long line of teams eager to sign him. The player has been a constant for Barca since making his debut in 2021.
Among the serious teams keeping an eye on the situation is Arsenal.
