Ansu Fati was 17 years and 311 days old when he became the youngest ever goal scorer for Spain. Juan Errazquin, a few days off his 19th birthday, hit the net for Real Union in a friendly against Switzerland in 1925.
It's a good indicator of a record's significance if it's been around for a long time, like the long jump mark of 8.90 meters by Bob Beamon. It's pretty special that Ansu is the youngest scorer in LaLiga at 16 years and 304 days and the youngest to hit the net in the European Championship at 17 years and 40 days.
Ansu's record for Spain was snatched away from him by his teammate, who was 17 years and 304 days old at the time.
This kid has ripped up the national-team record books twice in a row. At 17 years and 62 days, Gavi broke an 85-year-old record by playing for Spain 222 days younger than the previous record holder.
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What's more exciting about this young lad is his talent, energy, technique and ferocious will to win. Spain is in a precarious position in the Nations League Group A2 after drawing with Portugal and the Czechs. Gavi played more minutes for La Roja than any other player.
I'm going to give you a favor if you didn't watch the Spain side in the last few days. The origin of the 25th-minute move is where La Roja's goal came from.
The sprint begins with a ball that is outside the Spain penalty area. The Kid shouldn't get there first, but he leaves Bruno in a state of despair. Then he strides about 50 metres, the ball tied to his foot, before sliding-ruling a pass to the right wing, who is left to provide the simplest assist for Morata to score
It's beautiful. A golden kid.
Begun thanks to desire and athleticism, developed with savvy and technical excellence, then dispatched to the correct destination with all the aplomb of someone who has been dominating elite football for a decade. When Euro 2024 ends, who will be a teenager?
Go to the Czech capital to watch the Spain match. It is a gem that I was on about. Under pressure and getting physically and athletically bullied by a clever counter-attacking side, it's Gavi the Kid to the rescue.
A dart towards the ball to fool a marker, a right-foot reception of Rodri's three-metre pass, a tilt of his still-diminutive frame and an inch- perfect left-footed finish which curves round Tomas Vaclik's full-length dive and in
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There were a lot of things that drew Luis Enrique's attention in the two matches he watched. I was in the news conference the day before Spain played Italy in the Nations League semifinals, having lost to them in the Euro 2020 semifinals.
Journalists in Madrid don't like Luis Enrique. Some of them think he's anti-Real Madrid. When the match previews were published, a lot of people mocked the idea that a player who only played a handful of games in his career deserved a place on the plane to Italy.
The Spain coach said that it was not normal for someone to perform like this at 17 He plays our style of football and has a good body. It's like he's at school when you watch him. It's a pleasure to have a guy like that with us. The national team's present isn't just our future.
If called upon, Gavi the Kid will need to perform again away to Switzerland in a must win match this Friday. In tight spots and difficult moments, La Roja's guy shows for the ball. He has a plan for what he is going to do with the ball before he gets it. His first instinct is to move the play forward to test and stretch the opponent. There isn't a hint of haste.
It's easy to understand why he always names Andres Iniesta as the player who inspired him. It's not right to compare them but to follow the right man in terms of a role model.
Every silver lining has a cloud. This time it is Barcelona. He's following in the footsteps of Xavi and Iniesta, not just because of his pitch positions, style of play and club colors, but also because he's replicating their own troubled introductions to top-level football.
Xavi and Iniesta had to grow up, get tougher, and eventually dominate world football against a background of Camp Nou chaos and deprivation. Their diminutive size, finding their best position, decorating the team with the right type of talent around them, club debt, trophyless seasons, and the two men now regarded as all-time greats had to fight their way through.
Ronald Koeman and Xavi have been trusting in talent over time. The Camp Nou financial chaos has returned with a vengeance, meaning that academy-trained players like him are like rain in the desert.
A person who has seen it all before is the main problem. Do you remember Ivan de la Pea? He was shaven-headed and the same height and weight as Gavi. De La Pea made his debut for Barcelona at the tender age of 19 and was initially worshipped by a club and crowd that were in need.
The Little Buddha didn't reach their natural peak because of a number of reasons. He won six trophies during the two full seasons he was with the team. He took revenge against Espanyol by starring for them in Lazio.
The Little Buddha knows a lot of things.
There is no guarantee that it will lead to seven or eight glorious Iniesta-style years at Barcelona.
There is a lot of demand for the kid right now. If the player or agent encouraged him, he would be snapped up by a number of leading European clubs tomorrow.
Barcelona's current contract offer is lowball because of the financial position they have allowed themselves to drift in.
This is already a week which has sent his transfer value and contractual worth soaring up, up and up, and it hasn't even been a week yet.
Alejandro is wondering if Barcelona will be able to maintain their quality of play.
De La Pea will point to what's happening around him as the basis for his conclusions. There will be reinforcements coming to Camp Nou this summer but they won't be as good as the squad needs to be. Barcelona doesn't have the money to pay for that.
Pedri was played until he said "no mas" and was missing from the Spain squad so that he could recuperate. Ansu isn't playing for Spain because he is still recovering from a knee injury. The man who broke through for Barcelona as a Gavi contemporary may need to go on loan in order to get more playing time.
We need to fight our corner before we make a decision on the future.
De La Pena will be telling the 17-year-old that they are in the power seat and won't be renewing on disadvantageous terms out of emotion or naivete, as other clubs wait to discover whether Barcelona finally accept the fact that they have to.
It was a difficult dilemma for Xavi, Barcelona's coach. He's in charge of a talent which can fortify his quest for trophies, a player whose position and skills he's uniquely placed to guide and develop, and a kid who is both precocious and prolific. Someone who can come up with a football idea of their own.
The bigger the price his bosses at Camp Nou will have to pay to keep him, the more likely they are to sign another player. It's an unpleasant truth and they need to address it.
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