Barcelona make star contract renewal top priority following brilliant start to the season

Barcelona are not flush for cash currently, but so far they have done a good job of hanging onto the talent that they want to over the past few years.

Alejandro Balde, Gavi, Pedri and Ronald Araujo have all signed long-term renewals with the club, securing the future of the Blaugrana. Lamine Yamal will be the next youngster that they want to tie down.

Frenkie de Jong is something of a different case. Signing a long-term renewal in 2020, just a year after joining, in order to paliate the effects of the pandemic. In further attempts to make the numbers work, Barcelona pushed him towards an exit last summer, but de Jong elected to stay.

Now the tables have turned. Barcelona won the La Liga title with de Jong as a key part of their team, and following an exceptional start to the season, Sport say that Barcelona have made his renewal a top priority for the coming months.

However the leverage is not in their favour. Like Marc-Andre ter Stegen, they want de Jong to sign a longer deal for less money. Meanwhile relations with his agents are not on good terms, following last summer’s pressure to leave. The Blaugrana hope that the arrival of Deco, who has a fresh start with de Jong and his representatives and help smooth things over.

Barcelona have been footing the bill for poor investment and the pandemic for three years now, and are yet to make a major sale. The cost of bringing in Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha has been a sizeable chunk of their assets. Barcelona have sold off 25% of their TV rights for 25 years, and nearly half of Barca Vision, the subsidiary company that deals with image rights around the world.