His name is Pablo Martin Paez Gavira, but everyone knows him as Gavi. It's only been a few months since he turned 18, although he still goes to training accompanied because he hasn't got his driver's license. His innocent child's face contrasts with the intensity - and even aggressiveness on some occasions - that he brings to the pitch, regardless of the opponent and the match being played.
The midfielder was born in 2004 in Palacios y Villafranca, a Seville municipality with a population of between 35,000 and 40,000 inhabitants. The mayor, Juan Manuel Valle, recently presented him with the 2021 Youth Award, which probably made him a little less excited than the Kopa Trophy, for which there was much more competition, of course.
Into the spotlight
Gavi's origins lie, like most professional footballers, in the place where he grew up. He would be no different,playing football with his village team, La Liara Balompie. From prebenjamines, when he was only six and seven years old, he stood out from the rest of the kids. While Ronaldo silenced the Camp Nou in 2012, the young Sevillian dreamed of being able to play in a Clasico like the one he played in on Sunday.
With the '7' on his back, the current Barca player showed great superiority despite his height. At that age, in many cases, those of greater stature tend to impose themselves and all that comes to nothing once they reach more advanced stages of training. In fact, he is now 1.73 meters tall, below average in the profession, although he still has some room to add a few more centimetres.
From what we can see in the images provided by the club where he grew up, Gavi was brash, daring and quick. With a striker's mentality, his head only faced the opponent's goal. That lasted longer because, already at Real Betis, he managed to score 96 goals during a single season, which was enough to attract the attention of Barcelona and set him on the road to stardom.
The help of Betis
The great clubs of professional soccer have their eyes on all the teams, especially those that are in the same province. They could barely enjoy two years of Gavi in La Liara Balompie, when he was still very small, as he landed at Betis from his first season as a Benjamín. As a green and white player he scored almost 100 goals.
The talented player of the youth team was fourth in Primera Benjamín in his debut as a Betis player and advanced to second place in Preferente, in the following campaign (2013/14). He also finished in the same position, still in Seville, when he became an Alevín, but could not close this stage with success as a green-and-white because he left for Barca.
A promising signing
For Barcelona they saw the incorporation of Gavi, when he was only 11 years old, as very good news for the future. After three seasons (one in alevines and two in infantiles), he faced his passage to cadete in the best possible way: with a first year at an outstanding level. He scored 17 goals in 20 games and also had time to make his debut in the División de Honor, a category in which he played before entering the juvenile age group.
His last step to professional soccer took place in the Barca reserve team. He played two matches in the extinct Segunda B when he was barely 16 years old. It was proof of the precocious talent that he has since proved to be. He combined this role in the third division with the 23 matches he played in the División de Honor.
From the first team to La Roja
In the following 2021/22 season, he played another game for the second team, but that was merely anecdotal because Ronald Koeman began to count on Gavi in the first team.
It is true that the Barcelona team had suffered many injuries, but as time went on he began to settle into his new role, even when the infirmary was emptied. The sacking of the Dutchman and the arrival of Xavi Hernandez was not a step backwards in this respect, as was to be expected. In the end, he played an incredible 34 league games, 47 in total.
Despite being just 17 and having played just a few games as a professional, Spain manager Luis Enrique decided to call up the Barcelona boy, who started at the first opportunity against Italy in October 2021.
Since then, he has become a permanent fixture for the Asturian, playing a leading role for his club - despite being a substitute at the Bernabeu at the weekend.
In addition to the goal he has already scored as an international, Pablo Gaviria has two more - both in LaLiga - and six assists - also in Spain's premier competition.
In his year of first team football, he has already shown the world what he is capable of - only time will tell whether he turn his Kopa Trophy into a Ballon d'Or.