Guardiola eyes move to bring "fantastic" Gavi to Man City amid contract wrangle

Pep Guardiola is keeping a close eye on the Barcelona contract wrangle surrounding teenage wonderkid Gavi.

The Manchester City boss is an unashamed fan of the attacking midfielder who is being tipped to be a world superstar after just one senior season at the Nou Camp after coming through the famed Barcelona academy.

Speaking at a celebrity golf tournament in Mallorca Guardiola said: "He is fantastic, just like Ansu Fati or Pedri.

"It shows that there is a lot of future and very good work in the youth system there."

Cash-strapped Barcelona - who need an immediate cash injection of £450million to save them from serious financial distress - are struggling to meet Gavi's demands for a lucrative new contract.

Liverpool, PSG and Bayern Munich are all watching developments closely.

And Premier League Champions City are now in the mix with Guardiola, Director of Football Tixiki Begiristain and CEO Ferran Soriano - all formerly at Barcelona - closely monitoring contract talks.

Gavi is currently on £20,000-a-week but so far, Nou Camp bosses have offered the teenager a £1.7million a year salary bumping up his weekly pay to £33,000-a-week.

That's well below the £77,000-a-week the youngster and his advisors want in the first year of a new deal with an annual rise of £19,000 per year over the course of a four year contract being demanded.

With the Spanish giants in huge financial trouble they've so far been unable to agree to Gavi's demands sparking fears amongst Barcelona fans that he may leave.

The teenager's wage demands would be no problem for City - or Liverpool - and if Guardiola could lure him it would give them another star of the future after already snapping up Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland in a £51million deal.

With Phil Foden already maturing into a world class star, City would boast a frightening array of generational talent under 22.

Guardiola has always been seen as respectful to his former club - but if Gavi came on the market he wouldn't hesitate trying to lure the exciting youngster to The Etihad.