Chelsea have reportedly touched base over a move for Barcelona protege Gavi as they seek to take advantage of the 18-year-old's recent contract saga.
The 2004-born midfielder has understandably attracted glances from Europe after his rapid rise into the Blaugrana first team, already making 87 appearances for the club in all tournaments.
Gavi has come up with four goals and 12 assists for the Catalan giants in that time, scoring twice and setting up six more goals in 40 appearances during the current campaign.
Gavi's exploits have helped Barcelona establish a 13-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table, and he was presented with the Kopa Trophy at last year's Ballon d'Or awards.
La Blaugrana had seemingly ended speculation over the Spain international's future in September, tying their academy prospect down to a new deal until the summer of 2026 with a €1bn (£878m) release clause.
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However, the La Liga leaders have been rocked by a recent court ruling which could open up the possibility of Gavi leaving for nothing at the end of the current season.
In a protracted legal dispute with La Liga, Barcelona failed to change Gavi's status from an academy player to a first-team player during the January transfer window, and as part of his new deal, a clause was included which would allow him to depart for free this summer if he was still registered to the academy.
Barca could not register Gavi as a first-team player as they had exceeded their salary cap, and they missed a deadline to file a subsequent case after La Liga were slapped with a temporary injunction to change the teenager's status.
The courts ultimately sided in La Liga's favour over Barca's late submission of documents, meaning that Gavi would lose his first-team status - while still being able to represent the club as normal - and Barcelona failed with an appeal last month.
Whether Gavi would be open to departing his boyhood club for nothing is another matter, but according to AS, Chelsea have already made contact over a move as they try to capitalise on the uncertainty.
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Representatives from the West London club are rumoured to have met with Gavi's agent in Madrid three weeks ago, and the discussion was a "very satisfactory" one.
Chelsea have planned further talks with the Spaniard's camp, and he is said to have been left extremely unhappy with the way that his contract situation has unfolded.
Furthermore, the Blues are understood to have been in contact with former Spain boss Luis Enrique over the head coach role, which would boost their prospects of landing Gavi due to the teenager's positive relationship with his senior.
Chelsea allowed Jorginho to join Arsenal in January, and their midfield ranks could be thinned further this summer with the possible departures of Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher and Denis Zakaria, whose loan deal from Juventus is not expected to be made permanent.
N'Golo Kante could also leave as a free agent at the end of June, but the Frenchman is now expected to pen a new contract with Frank Lampard's side.
Ben Knapton
