Barcelona manager Hansi Flick reveals wake-up call for Gavi – ‘We have to teach him to be more professional’ | OneFootball

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has surprised with comments regarding star midfielder Gavi, who is set for a long absence after undergoing surgery on his knee. The 21-year-old was due to undergo an arthroscopy, keeping him out for five weeks, but upon discovering further damage to his ligaments, will now be out for five months.

It is a crushing blow for Gavi, who was due to get back up to full speed this season, following a year out with a cruciate ligament tear keeping him off the pitch until November last year. Now he will likely be out of action until February, and it will clearly take him some time to get back up to full speed.

‘We have to teach him to be a professional’ – Flick

Flick explained that they were already focused on getting Gavi back to fitness, but above all on being a professional. It could perhaps be a reference to the fact that Gavi declined to undergo surgery for a month, preferring instead a conservative approach, which ended on Monday with the decision to go under the knife.

“When you get this information, you say, ‘Bad news,’ but in the end, I think it’s a good thing for him. Then we have to take care of him; he has to take it step by step, because he is 21 years old, and he has a huge career. We need to get him fit, and get him to stay fit.”

“He has to be a professional player. This is what we have to teach him, to be professional, to think like a professional, because he’s a player with a big heart; I’m very happy to have him on the team. It’s not easy for the team, because he has huge quality, but we’ll be supporting him so he can return to his best.”

Flick visited Gavi in hospital on Wednesday morning

The Barcelona manager was asked how Gavi was handling the blow emotionally, and revealed tht he had been to see him in hospital on Wednesday morning.

“I don’t think it’s easy for a young player to receive this news. I woke him up, this morning. I think he was surprised to see someone so early, I had to come early because I had to be at training. He was fine, he is now in the right mood, we have to help him to be the professional player we need, especially with his heart, his attitude; it’s top-level. It’s not easy, but if anyone can overcome it, it’s him.”

Image via Sport

Marc Bernal recovery

Only two weekends ago, Barcelona saw Marc Bernal return to action against Valencia for the first time in over a year, following a cruciate ligament injury. Flick did not promise any further minutes for him in the near future.

“When we see fit for him to play, he’ll play. He’s doing well in training, but we didn’t see fit for him to play against Newcastle, and against Getafe, we opted for other options.”