Liverpool were rejected by Gavi back in September, and the Barcelona wonderkid has now followed in the footsteps of Pele at the 2022 World Cup.
What’s the story?
Well, it was 90min who revealed that Jürgen Klopp wanted the Spain international at Anfield, amid doubts over whether he would be committing his future to Barcelona.
Gavi eventually signed a new four-year deal with a remarkable €1bn (£862m) release clause, and has since shown Liverpool what they missed out on with some fantastic performances in Qatar.
The 18-year-old scored in Spain’s 7-0 win over Costa Rica to become the first player born in 2004 to score at the World Cup, and when he took to the field against Morocco earlier today, he echoed Pele.
After being named in the starting XI to face Morocco by Luis Enrique, Gavi has now become the youngest player since Pele in 1958 to start a World Cup knockout clash, at the age of just 18 years and 123 days old.
Remarkably, Pele was just 17 years and 249 days old when he set the record in the 1958 World Cup final, and we doubt that will ever be beaten.
Nevertheless, Gavi can now put himself up with the Brazilian legend.
Liverpool responded to Gavi rejection well
In our view, Klopp did well to react after failing to sign Gavi.
The German was clearly keen to sprinkle a bit of youthful magic on his midfield department, and despite missing out on the Barcelona No.30 back in September, he has managed to get Harvey Elliott heavily involved in the first-team.
Klopp has also given 20-year-old Fabio Carvalho plenty of senior action following his £5m move from Fulham.
Of course, it would’ve been nice for Klopp to have Gavi at Anfield, as he looks set to become one of the best midfielders of his generation.
Nevertheless, Liverpool have some gems of their own, and are well placed to sign other prospects in 2023.
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