Football news: Gavi signs a new exorbitant contract with Barcelona

As part of the agreement, Gavi's release clause will increase to €1 billion, matching that of Pedri, Ansu Fati, Ronald Araujo, and Ferran Torres.

Modern clubs are wary of taking chances due to the absurdity of transfer payments, and Camp Nou still harbours resentment over Neymar's departure to PSG.

Despite Barcelona's best efforts, many factors put Gavi's contract renewal on hold, which was due to expire in 2023.

Barcelona had to wait until Gavi turned 18 in August to sign him to a long-term contract since players under 18 in Spain cannot sign contracts longer than three years.

The club had to free up payroll space within their LaLiga-mandated budget to register the new contract officially.

To settle Gavi's new terms with LaLiga, Sharjah FC needed to complete the Miralem Pjanic transfer last week.

Some of Europe's major clubs reportedly reached out to Gavi's representatives during the stalemate in negotiating a new contract.

However, the former Real Betis player, who joined Barcelona when he was only 11 years old, made it evident that he preferred to remain with Barcelona only.

How did Gavi start at Barcelona?

Gavi, a product of the La Masia youth programme, debuted for the first squad in August, shortly after turning 17, in a league match against Getafe.

He made 47 appearances for the team last year and scored twice. Spain noticed him enough to call him up for international duty.

Since then, he has earned ten national team caps and will presumably be included in Luis Enrique's World Cup roster for Qatar.

As his current contract was slated to expire at the end of the season, the Catalan club had been attempting to persuade the 18-year-old midfielder to commit to a new one for some time.

Barcelona has confirmed in an official statement that the new deal is for four years and has a release clause of a staggering €1 billion ($1 billion), making it nearly impossible for interested teams like Liverpool and Manchester United to swoop him up.

Barcelona has dealt with similar circumstances before and is familiar with these kinds of massive release clauses.

Griezmann, who spent two horrible years at Barcelona before joining Atletico on loan last summer, is a prime example.

To take advantage of a loophole in the initial loan arrangement, the French attacker has been coming on in the final 30 minutes of Atletico's games this season. 

But an agreement on a €25 million fee is very close to being reached.

Second, Araujo recently signed a new contract with Barcelona and is an essential player for the club. Physically capable, confident on the field, and a natural-born leader. 

He was equipped with all the necessary traits of a modern central defender. Even Antonio Rudiger, in a preseason match between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, was the victim of his rough play.

On Thursday night, Gavi will sign his new contract in front of the team's fans at Barcelona's stadium, and then both he and club president Joan Laporta will make speeches.

Gavi and Barcelona host Elche in La Liga this Saturday, looking to get back on track after losing 2-0 to Bayern Munich in the Champions League this week.