Pau Gasol arrives in Barcelona and will wear a blaugrana next week

Pau Gasol signs an autograph upon his arrival in Barcelona.ALBERT GEA / Reuters

Pau Gasol arrived in Barcelona this Wednesday from California.

The pivot will undergo the medical examination this Friday and will be presented as a Barça player once the elections for the club's presidency that will take place this Sunday are over.

The player is in the final phase of his recovery after having undergone surgery twice for a navicular stress fracture in his left foot.

Once he has passed the mandatory medical examination, it will be determined how he will be incorporated into group work with the Barça team.

"We have to see where I am after a year away from the slopes and I want to see how the body is, as well as the foot, to have a clear photo," said Gasol upon arrival in Barcelona.

"Also see what kind of work I have to do, as well as the loads and training."

The 40-year-old center from Sant Boi returns to the club he left in 2001 to start a long and successful career in the NBA.

Pau's last team in the NBA was Portland, although, due to his injury, he did not even play with him and ended up terminating the contract by mutual agreement in November 2019. The last game he played in the NBA was on October 10. March of that year with the Milwaukee Bucks.

In May 2019 he underwent surgery by Dr. Robert Anderson, in Wisconsin.

The signing of Pau Gasol transcended on February 20 although it became official three days later.

"I want to be able to contribute to the ambitious project and make myself available to the coach to join this team and the magnificent work they are developing," said the Sant Boi center that day.

"I want to put my skills and experience at his disposal at a key moment of the season as I continue to progress in my fitness and start to pick up the pace of competition."

Ha som here !!!

We are already here!!!

We are already here !!!

#Barcelona

🔵🔴 pic.twitter.com/xawkjV1ckf

- Pau Gasol (@paugasol) March 3, 2021

The doubts about the performance that Pau Gasol can offer are proportional to the long period of inactivity that it accumulates.

Before undergoing surgery in May 2019, the injury only allowed him to play 30 games, with an average of 12 minutes, in the 2018-2019 season, which began with the San Antonio Spurs and ended with the Milwaukee Bucks.

“I hope to be able to join training as soon as possible”, he said on the 23rd through the networks, “and we will assess together with the coach, the coaching staff and the medical teams (mine and the club's) my progression within of the team and my contribution to the track ”.

On Monday, before starting the trip from San Francisco to Barcelona, ​​Pau Gasol sent another message in which he thanked Juan Carlos Navarro, technical secretary of training basketball and former partner and personal friend of Pau, and coach Saras Jasikevicius, for their " work ”and“ trust ”and for having made his return a reality.

The player has signed a contract with Barça until June 2021 and his goal is, in addition to qualifying for the Euroleague and La Liga titles, to play the Tokyo Olympics with the Spanish team from July 23.