BARCELONA’S attempt to register wonderkid Gavi as a first-team player has been REJECTED by LaLiga – and the Spanish giants are banned from adding to their squad.
Gavi, 18, is currently listed as an academy player despite being a full Spain international.
The midfielder signed a new contract in September and Barca thought it followed LaLiga’s criteria for a first-team player.
And so they were confident their request to register Gavi would go through when they sent over the documentation.
But according to The Athletic, Barca’s attempt to register the La Masia wonderkid was turned down.
Barca are now unable to register any new contracts on their wage bill due to LaLiga’s salary caps.
The Nou Camp club had thought the departures of Memphis Depay and Gerard Pique would allow them to register Gavi.
Barca have a negative balance, which is largely due to their Champions League exit in the group stages.
And so LaLiga did not validate Gavi’s extension.
Barca will have to significantly reduce their wage bill in summer, or find new sponsorships to register contracts.
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They will also not be able to call upon last summer’s tricks and pull any more economic levers.
It allowed Barca to register players but this avenue has been stopped after LaLiga changed its rules to reduce their impact on the salary limit calculation.
Barca have been saving the No6 in their squad for Gavi since last summer.
They wanted to hand Gavi the iconic shirt worn by current manager Xavi.
But he will have to stick with the No30 as he cannot wear a squad number below 25 due to technically still being an academy player.
Defender Ronald Araujo is in the same situation as Gavi.
He agreed to a contract extension until 2026 but is still not registered with LaLiga as a first-team player.
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