La Liga president explains why Gavi’s Barcelona contract was blocked

La Liga president Javier Tebas has confirmed that Barcelona’s salary cap breach has prevented them from registering Gavi’s new contract.

18-year-old midfielder Gavi agreed the terms of a lucrative senior contract with Barcelona earlier this season but his deal has been blocked by La Liga, meaning the teenager legally remains on his previous youth contract which expires in the summer.

Barcelona have been paying Gavi as a senior player and may encounter legal troubles when they formally declare their annual accounts, given there is no legal basis for the club to be paying anything above the academy wage dictated on Gavi’s old deal.

Despite all the uncertainty and the threat of losing Gavi at the end of the season, 90min understands that the midfielder is relaxed about his future and focused on remaining at Camp Nou beyond the current campaign.

Asked about La Liga’s decision, Tebas insisted there are clear financial rules which Barcelona must abide by before they can increase their wages.

“[Gavi] has a salary that, as of November, cannot be registered because Barça is over their cap by €200m,” Tebas explained. “We cannot skip the control rules.

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“Barça has a solution and it is to come with a treasury plan to sign. There are no levers anymore Or, if there are, they cannot use them.”

Tebas went on to explain that La Liga’s ruling is nothing knew and pointed the finger at former club president Josep Maria Bartomeu for ignoring the guidelines and overspending.

“If Barça has problems with fair play, we are co-responsible. I never said anything just to annoy Barça,” he said.

“With Bartomeu, there were salary limits. Barça was at the maximum but they went too far. Real Madrid does not spend everything, they had a piggy bank because every year they made €25m profit. Barça did not and have now been penalised.”

On this edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth discuss Harry Kane’s future at Tottenham Hotspur, Joao Felix potentially joining Chelsea on a permanent basis, David Raya, Marco Asensio, Alexis Mac Allister & more!

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