Barcelona settles on a replacement for Gavi and Deco raises doubts

FC Barcelona intends to announce its first winter deals during the next few days, during the meeting between the club’s executives and La Liga, in order to compensate for the injured Javi.

Midfielder Javi suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament while participating with the Spain national team against Georgia in the qualifiers for Euro 2024.

Barcelona is trying to replace Javi with a player whose wage will be a maximum of 80% of the salary of the injured 19-year-old player, according to La Liga rules.

The newspaper “Marca” indicated that Barcelona will include the 18-year-old Brazilian striker Vitor Roque, instead of Javi, because they have enough players in midfield to complete the season, as Roque has already been signed.

As for the 80%, it will not be calculated now in the salary bill, but will be calculated next season, which may prevent Barcelona from including another player next year, especially since the club wants to sign two players.

Barcelona sporting director Deco raised doubts about the Vitor deal, commenting: “We cannot replace Gavi with another midfielder, because the market does not have a player with such characteristics, and there is always coordination and conversation between me and Xavi, the team coach.”

Regarding the Vitor deal, Deco commented: “We will see which position we can support in January, and Vitor’s position is certainly the place we will bet on. The matter has not been settled yet, and we are talking and I think it will go this way.”