Barcelona

Contract renewals are being planned in Barcelona

Barcelona's team celebrating the lone goal against Granada in La Liga's matchday 20. // ALEX CAPARROS/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE
Barcelona’s team celebrating the lone goal against Granada in La Liga’s matchday 20. // ALEX CAPARROS/GETTY IMAGES EUROPE

The Catalan club has been negotiating with several members of the squad, as contract renewals of several important players at the club are being worked on.

Several contracts in the club are close to expiring, and the club have been working on renewing them, although the coronavirus pandemic has slowed things down. Several aspects of the negotiations are best done face-to-face, and these aspects have been postponed until Spain no longer is in the state of emergency, reports the Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo.

According to the same report, the contracts in question are those of Lionel Messi (32), Marc-André ter Stegen (27), Nélson Semedo (26) and Luis Suárez (33).

As for Lionel Messi, the club is calm, especially taking the player’s recent public statements into account, with the Argentine saying he does not plan on leaving Barcelona — a club that gave him his first team-debut in 2003.

The Argentine’s contract runs out in 2021, and although a clause in his contract technically allows him to leave this year, both parties are interested in a contract renewal. On the club’s part, it is believed that football will return not later than June, with the club deeming it best to push negotiations until the sport returns to action. Negotiations will, per the same report, happen on the phone until then, although crucial parts, as previously mentioned, will take place face-to-face.

Marc-André ter Stegen‘s role at the club has been ever rising, with the German shot-stopper having played a crucial role in Catalonia in recent years. His current contract runs out in 2022, and with both parties interested in renewing, preliminary contacts have taken place between the club and the player’s agent, Gerd vom Bruch.

The player would like a salary that reflects his status in the team, which is a point of view understood by the club, according to Mundo Deportivo’s report. Both sides plan on continuing negotiations, and talk more in detail with regards to his salary and the length of the contract, once society is re-mobilized.

As for Nélson Semedo, the interest from renewing the contract is present from both sides. Barcelona have had talks with agent Jorge Mendes, with the agent believing that his client’s new contract should reflect the player’s popularity in the transfer market, reports Mundo Deportivo. Barcelona’s initial contract with him contains bonuses for Benfica, for every 50 games he plays. With his 93 performances for the Blaugrana under his belt, he has seven to go before the second bonus is triggered. If that does happen, the Catalan side will pay a bonus of five million euros to Benfica, the club Semedo left for Barcelona in 2017.

Luis Suárez‘s situation is not as concrete as the aforementioned ones, although his contract runs out in 2021. As things stand, he is on his way back from two operations, hence the club wanting to wait until his return before discussing a renewal. According to the same report, the club will together with Suárez assess his situation at the club, and whether a renewal is feasible, once he makes his return from injury.