The Spanish midfielder has become a polarising presence in Spain, but could be vital for the Catalan club this season

Gavi's second yellow card against Porto in the Champions League was a silly thing. Barcelona were defending a 1-0 lead, and had 10 men behind the ball when the Spaniard was evaded by a Porto player. Gavi couldn't help himself, though. He grabbed his opponent's shirt as he ran past — barely slowing him down.

Still, it was enough for Gavi, already on a yellow card, to be given his marching orders. Improbably, it was just the second sending off of the Barcelona teenager's career.

That comes as a surprise based on the reputation that he has built up. Gavi is a polarising figure among football fans. First pegged as the heir to Xavi in Barcelon's midfield, one of La Masia's latest midfield products has become something else.

He is not as technical nor graceful as his now manager. Instead, for Barcelona supporters, he is the all-action midfielder that Xavi needs — a relentless pest off the ball, who can pick a deadly pass or produce a moment of magic when he has it. For others, he's an overrated menace, a cheat, a player reckless to the point of danger.

But which is the real Gavi? Or is he some of both? For his manager, he might just be the perfect blend, the kind of midfielder he loves to have, and knows other teams hate.

Getty ImagesOrigins in the Barca team

This debate didn't really exist in the early goings of his Barca career. Like many from La Masia, Gavi was chucked into the first team during Barca's dark days, called up by Ronald Koeman in the season after Lionel Messi embarked on his unsuccessful Parisian journey.

The arrival was a long time coming for the then-17-year-old. He had joined Barca's academy at just 11, and routinely played four years ahead of his age group. And after watching Ansu Fati graduate into the Barca side before him, Gavi seemed primed to be next.

So, he became a regular for a struggling side. By the October international break in 2021, Barcelona were ninth in La Liga, five points behind Real Madrid, and bottom of their Champions League group without a single point to their name. Koeman admitted at the time that Gavi was pretty much the only good thing about the Blaugrana's season.

“He’s shown, despite his age, that he knows how to play,” Koeman said in a press conference before Barca's 3-1 win over Valencia.

Spain manager Luis Enrique agreed. He thrust Gavi straight into his starting line-up for the Nations League semi-final on October 6, handing him the No.9 shirt, and deploying him in a midfield that also included Sergio Busquets and Koke. Gavi played 83 minutes, and La Roja won, 2-1. He started again four days later in the final — playing 74 minutes in a loss to France.

AdvertisementSpain's starboy

Soon, like many Spanish youngsters, Gavi captured the attention of the global footballing world. Here was another young midfielder, a technical kid from the same academy that produced Xavi and Iniesta. Luis Enrique did little to temper expectations. The manager made Gavi the youngest Spain debutant ever, and prasied his showing after.

"He plays like he does at school or in the garden of his house, and it is a pleasure to have a player of this quality and personality," Luis Enrique said in October 2021.

The midfielder barely missed a game from there. Although Barca continued to struggle, eventually sacking Koeman before Christmas, Gavi remained in the side. He started 44 of a possible 57 games for club and country in the 2021-22 season, playing all over the midfield for a struggling Barca side. Still, he offered hope in the middle with the emerging Pedri, the duo hastily labled as 'the next Xavi and Iniesta' to lead Barcelona to a new era of success.

By the following summer, he was regarded as one of Europe's brightest talents. Luis Enrique claimed he was "an erupting volcano". It all culminated in the Golden Boy award, handed to the Spanish midfielder ahead of Eduardo Camavinga, Jude Bellingham and Jamal Musiala in November 2022. The rise, it seemed, was complete.

What he gets away with

But Gavi wasn't necessarily a universal favourite. While the rest of his Golden Boy competitors were master craftsmen on the ball, made for highlight reels and marketing deals, Gavi preferred other areas. Indeed, the teenager has fostered something of a nasty streak.

He may have worn the No.9 shirt for Spain, but this was not a goal-scoring striker, or even an attacking midfielder. Instead, Gavi was useful because he was willing to do the other bits. He would fly into tackles, scrap with opponents, and routinely do anything — legal or otherwise — to win the ball. In his Spain debut alone, Gavi completed the most duels on the pitch.

That tendency has continued. During the 2022 World Cup, Gavi embarked on a solo effort to chop at Germany's midfield, clattering Musiala, Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich. He followed that with a series of reckless tackles against Villarreal, and countless off-ball shoves and shirt grabs. But for all of the negative headlines and complaints to the media, it proved to be immensely effective. Barca needed bite in their midfield, and Gavi provided it.

And, of course, for Barca fans, all of his bumps, bruises, and misdeeds fall within the confines of the rules. Indeed, Gavi is another player who pushes the boundaries of what, exactly, he can get away with. They will point to the fact that he was willing to tackle with his head to stop a breakaway against Athletic Club, or his relentlessness in duels against Toni Kroos in the Spanish Super Cup final. This is not Iniesta or Xavi. This is Sergio Ramos, or Pepe, shrunken and deployed as a centre-midfielder.

GettyA pain for Madridistas

Unsurprisingly, the biggest detractors of Gavi are Madrid fans. Madrisistas, of course, need little encouragement to dislike a Barca player — such is the rivalry between the clubs.

But Gavi gave them extra fuel. In a Clasico in January 2023, Dani Ceballos pulled Gavi's hair, and dragged him down in a duel shortly after — leading to an exchange of words and shoving match.

Things came to a head the next time the two teams met, when Gavi barged Ceballos over, despite neither player being anywhere near the ball. Gavi spent the rest of the game flying into tackles, and probably should have been sent off for a number of yellow card offences. Inexplicably, he ended the game without receiving a booking.

It was a contest latched onto by the pro-Madrid media, who dubbed Barca's teenager a "thug", and claimed he was a footballer who did little more than bend the rules. His quality on the ball was overblown, and that Golden Boy award, they claimed, was undeserved.

Xavi, in turn, launched a stern defence of his player, addressing the complaints against him. "I guess the problem is that he is a Barca player. If he was from another team, the problem would be a virtue. He has a very promising and extraordinary career ahead of him. He is one of the best players in Spain and one of the best midfielders in the world right now," he said in March 2023.