6 is a symbolic number for Gavi and for the Barcelona project around him. For fourteen years, the current coach has also worn this number, a badge that stands as the club’s most recognizable symbol. Gavi will wear the 6 out of 6 to honor a lineage and to keep the streak alive from January forward, hoping to match the successes of the club’s best predecessors.
Barça kept that shirt for him and somehow completed a circle. Before Xavi, the last holder of the 6 was Iván de la Peña, the man who recruited, mentored and represented the eleven-year-old Pablo Martín Páez Gavira, a Seville-born talent who shone in Betis’s youth system and quickly drew attention as a scorer.
It was a moment of ignition. As a young player still underage, he made his first team debut for Barça last season, donning the number 30. He will continue to wear the 6 until January, because ever since Xavi’s era began, the number has moved from player to player – the lineage passing through Dani Alves, Denis Suárez, Jean-Clair Todibo, Carles Aleñà, Riqui Puig and Miralem Pjanic – and it has seen regular use at the start of the league season.
Pjanic’s shirt
It was almost natural that the shirt found its way to Pjanic. He didn’t get a long runway with Barça. After four matches, he left for Sharjah, a club in the United Arab Emirates. Xavi began with the number 29 when he first joined the senior squad, then moved to 26 upon promotion, then stepped down to 16 as he built seniority until he could claim his own path.
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Gavi took the 6 with ease. His growth came swiftly, not just for talent but for the resilience and pressure he could handle. Now, after three coaches and ten months, he belongs to the A team as a full-fledged player.
The status became official as the club worked through the salary cap concerns. The renewal was finalized for multiple months, driven by the club’s ambition and Gavi’s deep-rooted belief in the project at Sant Joan Despí. The original 6 symbolizes a heart with legs, a phrase Xavi uses to describe the young star’s perseverance and energy in every drill and on every pitch. The distinction between practice and match is indistinguishable in his effort, exactly what coaches want from a premier prospect.
6, 8, 10, 4…
There was urgency in renewing Gavi in December. Xavi’s excitement is obvious when he sees the progress Barça has started to build. Even if he is wearing 30 now, the 6 remains a cornerstone alongside players like Pedri in number 8, Ansu Fati in number 10, and Antoine Araujo in the 4 shirt, each integral to the club’s plans. The elder figure among them, the Uruguayan at 23 years old, anchors a squad valued at a fortune by pundits and fans. Ferran continues in 11 and Nico González hopes to return to 5 sooner than later, with a possible future shift depending on Valencia’s loan spell.
Like Ansu and Nico, Gavi started in Sant Despí, moving from hopeful youth to a world-class international—an ascent that looks inevitable in hindsight and compelling in real time.
Luis Enrique faced disbelief and a touch of annoyance in some media circles when a younger Barça name seemed poised to eclipse expectations. What some overlooked was that Enrique understood the boy’s journey, including late-night, untied laces on the training ground, a small detail that hinted at the unbreakable focus shaping his early path. Photos capture those moments, small signs of a growing star in what many called Episode One of a long career.
Records with Spain
Gavi’s Spain debut came after a brief Barçan stint, and soon he appeared in the national shirt against Italy in October. The Nations League semi-finals saw him set a record for age, surpassing the previous mark set in 1936. With his first international goal, he shaved a few days off Ansu Fati’s prior record, underscoring an astonishing early rise for a player still under twenty.
He first stepped into competitive football with Barça in late August, then faced a difficult preseason moment with a broken jaw. The setback never slowed him down; the speed and tenacity that define him persisted through every challenge.
6 is a symbolic number for a player who embodies a club crest and a mentor’s faith. His journey mirrors a careful, deliberate plan that keeps evolving as new challenges surface and the club’s aspirations rise with each match.
The story continues, with a young star carrying a legacy into the future, while teammates wear the numbers that once defined a generation. The club’s mechanism for development and the unwavering belief in homegrown talent remain as the core of Barça’s identity, and Gavi’s ascent is simply the latest chapter in a broader, ongoing narrative.