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Topics: Football, Liverpool, Barcelona, Jurgen Klopp, Gavi, Premier League, Champions League
Chris Byfield
Topics: Football, Liverpool, Barcelona, Jurgen Klopp, Gavi, Premier League, Champions League
Jurgen Klopp may be able to secure the signing of Gavi amid Barcelona's potential Champions League ban.
According to a court document seen by Reuters, Barcelona are under investigation for suspected bribery as part of a probe spanning two decades of activities in Spain’s refereeing committee.
The investigating judge Joaquín Aguirre López, said that Barcelona may have benefited from “possible systemic corruption”.
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Indeed, in March prosecutors filed a complaint over alleged payments of more than €7.3million (£6.3million) over 17 years to firms owned by former vice-president of the football federation’s refereeing committee (RFEF) José María Enríquez Negreira.
In a statement in February, Barcelona denied any wrongdoing. Moreover, Reuters has been unable to reach Negreira, while RFEF and Barcelona were not immediately available for comment. SPORTbible have approached Barcelona for comment.
However, as explained here, should Barcelona be found guilty of bribery they could be banned from UEFA competitions, including the Champions League.
Of course, if Barcelona were banned from the Champions League there would be major financial consequences.
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In such a scenario La Blaugrana would likely be forced to sell several of its assets, including star midfielder Gavi.
And Liverpool could stand to benefit. In March The Times claimed both Manchester City and Liverpool were tracking the development of Gavi’s situation at Barcelona, amid uncertainty at the time regarding his contract.
Having finally registered the Spain international as a first-team player, however, Gavi’s deal at the Nou Camp is said to have a release clause at €1billion (£866m) - a fee almost certain to be beyond Liverpool’s financial might.
However, Klopp is said to be an admirer of the midfielder, with Spanish radio station El Nacional having claimed last April that the German had “become obsessed” with securing a move for the midfielder.
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