Wunderkids: Building football’s most exciting young XI - week five: Gavi, midfielder

It is the stuff of management dreams - a blank cheque to build the most exciting young starting XI in world football.

But that is exactly what new BBC Sounds podcast Wunderkids is offering, in fantasy form at least, over its 11 episodes. The first five episodes are available to listen to now.

The Wunderkids team, in conjunction with BBC Sport, have come up with 11 players - and presenter Steve Crossman will be joined by experts to discuss the latest inclusion, with one new player revealed each week.

So far, new Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez, Bayer Leverkusen winger Florian Wirtz, Ajax midfielder Ryan Gravenberch and Santos defender Kaiky have made the cut - and now Barcelona midfielder Gavi joins them.

Who is he?

Gavi has scored two La Liga goals in 21 appearances for Barcelona

A product of Barcelona's famous La Masia academy, Gavi is a technically gifted, tough-tackling midfielder.

A native of a small village near Seville, Gavi was recruited at the age of 11 by Barca from Real Betis' academy. His growth in the six years since has been rapid and impressive.

He went from the under-17s straight to the under-19s - a rare transition for a player at La Masia - and made only three appearances for the club's B side before graduating to a first team in dire need of spark and longing for a new homegrown hero.

He was man of the match in his first home start against Levante and provided the assist for the last-minute equaliser against Granada, showing a calmness and execution that had eluded more experienced team-mates with a cross for Ronald Araujo to head in.

His impressive form for his club then translated on to the international stage as he became Spain's youngest player, aged just 17 years and 62 days.

During the 83 minutes he was on the pitch, he played an influential role in ending Italy's unbeaten run in the 2-1 Nations League semi-final win.

What does the expert say?

Gavi made his senior debut in October 2021

Spanish football journalist Guillem Balague

He is hyper-competitive, unable to lose at dominos or cards without pulling a face and losing friends, but that is what has brought him into the first team.

You need that personality to go through the phases you have to [at Barcelona's academy] as a young talent. In his case, he has jumped levels. He started playing with the 17-year-olds when he was still 15.

He has played more in the first team than the B side. Once he goes into the new phase he is completely calm. This is where he belongs.

His idol is Andres Iniesta but I compare his progression to Lionel Messi, who made his debut at 17 as well. There was absolutely no problem with Messi being accepted in the first team, in the same way Gavi was accepted.

For a player who has been with Barca since 11, his positional game is not the best. He wants to be everywhere. You look at the stats and he is one of the guys that runs the most. He has to run a little less and be clever in the way he does it.

[Barca] trust he will play over 100 games for the club. He has a contract until 2023 and they want to renew it. He has a 15m euro buy-out clause and he wants to stay at the Nou Camp. He believes he will be a legend at Barcelona.

What does the fan say?

Rafa Aldamuy (Mes que un podcast)

Gavi literally came out of nowhere. Nobody expected a 17-year-old midfielder to break down the door of the first team and basically become an essential starter.

He has that special technique that you need to play in the Barca midfield, but on top of that, it is his fight that impressed me the most.

There are special talents that take their one opportunity to bite the neck and not let go and Gavi is one of those.

My favourite moment was him not having any fear in both El Clasicos when facing the likes of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro. That is just something you do not see often in a 17-year-old. He is not afraid of anyone.