Barcelona’s explosive midfielder Gavi has entered the final stages of his recovery from an ACL injury, charging through a first-team training session on Wednesday.

The 20-year-old suffered a complete tear of his knee while on international duty with the Spanish national team in November 2023. Just one day earlier, Spain boss Luis de la Fuente had played down calls to leave the dynamic midfielder out of his lineup for a qualifier against Georgia by arguing: “Good players never rest.”

Gavi has been shackled to the sidelines over the subsequent 11 months, watching on as his compatriots defeated England in the final of last summer’s European Championships. The long hours in the gym have all been working towards a return to first-team action, which could come later this month.

Barcelona’s number six was reminded of the intensity demanded by top-flight football football during a training game put on by manager Hansi Flick during the October international break. The 11-a-side contest filled out by youth-team players was played “at a good pace” according to Santi Ovalle in Cadena Ser’s Que t’hi Jugues radio show.

Lining up in defensive midfield alongside Frenkie de Jong, who only recently made his return from a layoff stretching back to April, Gavi was given around 40 minutes. The high-energy midfielder has been back on the grass for a month and is eagerly eyeing up his first top-flight appearance since November 2023. According to Ovalle, Barcelona’s medical staff “has to slow him down because he wants to return now”.

Spanish publication El Mundo Deportivo claimed that Gavi is “very close” to a return and have highlighted Barcelona’s first game after this month’s international break – the visit of 12th-placed Sevilla – as the midfielder’s comeback.

When Gavi damaged his knee, Xavi Hernandez was Barcelona manager. The former club captain had experienced a similar issue during his own playing career and explained at the time of Gavi’s injury how it could benefit his young compatriot in the long run. “It helped me take better care of myself and be more professional.”

Barcelona failed to defend the league title in 2023/24, but Flick’s side have enjoyed a fast start to the new campaign thanks largely to the reinvention of Raphinha in a more central role, which allows him to produce the skills of the Spaniard.

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