Gavi (footballer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Páez and the second or maternal family name is Gavira.
Gavi
Personal information
Full name Pablo Martín Páez Gavira[1]
Date of birth (2004-08-05) 5 August 2004 (age 17)
Place of birth Los Palacios y Villafranca, Spain[1]
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Position(s) Central midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Barcelona
Number 30
Youth career
La Liara
2014–2015 Betis
2015–2021 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021– Barcelona B 3 (0)
2021– Barcelona 20 (2)
National team‡
2018 Spain U15 4 (1)
2019–2020 Spain U16 5 (0)
2021– Spain U18 3 (0)
2021– Spain 4 (0)
Honours
Men's football
Representing  Spain
UEFA Nations League
Runner-up 2021 Italy
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 February 2022
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 November 2021

Pablo Martín Páez Gavira (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpa.βlo maɾˈtim ˈpa.eθ ɣaˈβiɾa];[3] born 5 August 2004), commonly known as Gavi (pronounced [ˈɡaβi]), is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team.

Club career[]

Early career[]

Born in Los Palacios y Villafranca, Andalusia, Gavi started at La Liara Balompié, a club in his hometown, and from there he moved on to Real Betis's youth academy.[4] Having scored 95 goals for the youth team of Real Betis, Gavi was scouted by top Spanish sides, including Villarreal, Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid.[5]

Barcelona[]

Youth career[]

In 2015, at the age of 11, he signed for Barcelona.[6][7]

In September 2020, he signed his first professional contract with the Catalan club, and was promoted directly from the under-16 team to the under-19 team.[8][9] He made his debut for Barcelona B on 21 February 2021, in the 6–0 home routing of L'Hospitalet, coming on as a substitute for Nico González in the 77th minute.[10] He made his first start for Barça B the following 14 March in a 1–0 derby win against Espanyol B at the Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque.[11]

2021–22 season[]

Having featured twice for Barcelona B in the 2020–21 season, Gavi was promoted to the senior squad for pre-season friendlies with the first team ahead of the start of the new season.[12][13] After good performances in wins against Gimnàstic de Tarragona and Girona, Gavi was reported to have pushed ahead of Riqui Puig in Ronald Koeman's squad selection.[14][15] He continued this good run of form in a 3–0 win against German opposition VfB Stuttgart, earning comparisons with Barcelona legend Xavi.[16][17]

On 29 August 2021, he played his first official match for Barcelona's first team in the 2–1 La Liga win over Getafe, replacing Sergi Roberto in the 73rd minute. On 18 December, he scored his first goal for the club and provided an assist in the 3–2 home win over Elche.[18]

International career[]

Gavi has represented Spain at under-15 and under-16 level.[1][5]

On 30 September 2021, Gavi received a surprise call-up to the senior Spain national team by the manager Luis Enrique. He made his debut in their UEFA Nations League semi-final win against Italy on 6 October, becoming the youngest player to ever represent Spain at senior level.[19][20] In the final against France on 10 October, Spain ultimately suffered a 2–1 defeat.[21]

Style of play[]

Graham Hunter of ESPN hailed Gavi as a highly promising young player in 2021, comparing him to former Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Andrés Iniesta due to his qualities as a footballer, including his dribbling, anticipation, intelligence, vision, passing, first touch, close control, change of pace, and ability to turn quickly to get out of tight spaces and initiate counter-attacks.[22] Following his performance in Spain's semi-final victory over Italy in the 2021 Nations League Finals, Italian defender Emerson Palmieri described Gavi as a player who "has huge potential."[20]

Career statistics[]

Club[]

As of match played 24 February 2022[23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Barcelona B 2020–21 Segunda División B 2 0 – – 0 0 2 0
2021–22 Primera División RFEF 1 0 – – 0 0 1 0
Total 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Barcelona 2021–22 La Liga 20 2 1 0 8[a] 0 1[b] 0 30 2
Career total 23 2 1 0 8 0 1 0 33 2
Notes
  1. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Appearance in Supercopa de España

International[]

As of match played 16 November 2021[24]
Spain
Year Apps Goals
2021 4 0
Total 4 0

Honours[]

Spain

References[]

  1. ^ a b c Gavi at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ "Gavi". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  3. ^ In isolation, Martín and Gavira are pronounced [maɾˈtin] and [ɡaˈβiɾa] respectively.
  4. ^ Cala, Rafael (8 October 2021). "La Liara reivindica a Gavi: "Era Oliver Atom"" [La Liara vindicates Gavi: "He was Oliver Atom"]. estadiodeportivo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  5. ^ a b Navarro, Alicia (4 December 2018). "Gavi, el maestro de La Masía" [Gavi, the maestro of La Masía]. vavel.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  6. ^ Sanderson, Tom (30 July 2021). "FC Barcelona Preseason Has Seen Coach Ronald Koeman Find New 'Golden Boys'". forbes.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  7. ^ Kulig, Jacek (19 May 2020). "Scouting report on Pablo Paez 'Gavi' - the little maestro from La Masia". tribuna.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Young star Gavi signs new contract with Barcelona". sport.es. 7 September 2020. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  9. ^ Soldevila, Adrià (3 June 2021). "Gavi: La Masia wonderkid set to be the future of Barcelona's midfield". goal.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Gavi becomes 14th Under-19s player to debut for Barça B under Garcia Pimienta". FC Barcelona. 22 February 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  11. ^ Rogé, Albert (14 March 2021). "La fiesta 'juvenil' del Barça B hunde al RCD Espanyol B". sport.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  12. ^ Sharma, Rik (2 August 2021). "Gavi, Demir & the Barcelona wonderkids impressing Koeman in pre-season". goal.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  13. ^ Bona, German (17 July 2021). "Gavi, puro arte y mucho duende". sport.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  14. ^ Martínez, Ferran (22 July 2021). "Gavi se creció entre los mayores en su debut". mundodeportivo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  15. ^ Clark, Gill (27 July 2021). "Koeman Prefers Barcelona Teen To Riqui Puig: Report". heavy.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  16. ^ König, Kosta (2 August 2021). "16-year-old Barca kid Gavi stuns fans with fantastic performance, gets compared to Xavi". tribuna.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  17. ^ Law, Joshua (2 August 2021). "Gavi & a delicate touch that showed he could well be Barcelona's new Xavi". planetfootball.com. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  18. ^ "First goals for Gavi and Jutglà". FC Barcelona. 18 December 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  19. ^ "Italy 1 Spain 2". BBC Sport. 6 October 2021. Retrieved 7 October 2021.
  20. ^ a b Lowe, Sid (8 October 2021). "How 17-year-old Gavi became Spain's present and future". ESPN.com. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  21. ^ "Spain vs. France – Football Match Report". ESPN.com. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  22. ^ Hunter, Graham (28 September 2021). "Prodigious Ansu and Gavi give Barca hope of a brighter future". ESPN.com. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
  23. ^ Gavi at Soccerway
  24. ^ "Gavi". eu-football.info. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  25. ^ "Spain–France". UEFA. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

External links[]

  • Gavi at BDFutbol
  • Gavi at LaPreferente.com (in Spanish)
Retrieved from ""