Gavi twice as valuable as any other U19 in the world after Barcelona masterclass

16 Jan 2023 19:59 GMT
2 min read

Gavi continued his tremendous rise to superstardom by grabbing a goal and an assist for Barcelona as they beat rivals Real Madrid to lift the Spanish Super Cup.

The midfield wonderkid opened the scoring in Saudi Arabia after being set up by Robert Lewandowski before Gavi returned the favour by sliding the ball to the Polish striker for Barca’s second on the stroke of half time.

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Pedri and Karim Benzema netted for either side in the second half but it was Gavi who stole the show and highlighted just why he has already become a regular in the Spanish national team as well as winning the European Golden Boy trophy last year.

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The 18-year-old only made his Barcelona debut in August 2021 but recently made his 50th La Liga appearance for the club against Atletico Madrid, where he assisted Ousmane Dembele’s winner.

It is no surprise that Barcelona were desperate to renew Gavi’s contract last year and inserted a €1 billion release clause into the deal, such is the adulation surrounding the teenager.

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In fact, Gavi’s pedigree has risen so much that he is valued at nearly double the next under-19 player on FootballTransfer’s database, which uses an advanced data-driven algorithm to provide an accurate reflection of a player’s worth.

Gavi among Europe’s elite young talent

Gavi is currently valued at €54.8m while the next highest player is Momo Cho, the 18-year-old who joined Real Sociedad last summer for €12m.

In fact, there are only three teenagers with a higher value than Gavi – Jamal Musiala of Bayern Munich (€95.3m), Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham (€88m) and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Florian Wirtz (€70.8m).

The esteemed company highlights just how fondly Gavi is looked on by analysts, with the youngster likely to follow in the footsteps of La Masia legends Xavi and Andres Iniesta.

There could be some concern for Barca as Gavi only extended his contract until 2026, meaning he has just three-and-a-half years remaining on his deal already, however the player has shown no desire to leave, having had the opportunity to do so last summer prior to extending.

Liverpool were among the sides desperate to sign the midfielder but he seemingly only had eyes for Barcelona and there is a true belief at the club that Gavi and fellow wonderkid Pedri can emulate their predecessors and lead Blaugrana to glory for many years to come.