It has been almost one year since Gavi suffered a serious knee injury whilst playing for Spain against Georgia. The 20-year-old tore his ACL and damaged his meniscus – this meant a long and painful recovery process, although that is now over as he made his return to action against Sevilla 10 days ago.
The Athletic have given insight into Gavi’s recovery period, which has included conversations with Pablo Merino, who was the doctor tasked with bringing the youngster back to full fitness. Merino revealed that the recovery process was intense, and it included using the swimming pool of Hotel Sofia, which was nearby to Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou stadium.
“There, he could work on elements such as elasticity and certain gestures that were unthinkable out of the water. He found himself again just by being able to walk.”
Merino also created a unique Spotify playlist for Gavi, which included songs by Justin Bieber, Natasha Bedingfield and Michael Jackson – the reason for this was to “preach patience” and aid the recovery process as much as possible.
Gavi is edging ever closer to being 100% back for Barcelona, although it will take several weeks before he is able to start a match. Nevertheless, that is a day that he and many others are eagerly anticipating.