Barcelona preparing contract renewals for Sergi Roberto, Pique and Deulofeu
Barça, who have already held talks with Iniesta, want to tie three other players down
All three players came through the academy and are now important for the first team
Barcelona are beginning talks with three first team players over contract renewals. After announcing Lionel Messi's renewal and making progress with Andres Iniesta, now the board want to tie down three more homegrown players.
All three players in line for new deals progressed through La Masia and have Barça DNA: Sergi Roberto, Gerard Pique and Gerard Deulofeu. The board do not want another Neymar situation where there respective buyout clauses are met.
Sergi roberto
Sergi Roberto, for example, has a release clause of 40 million euros. That clause is currently very payable for some of the biggest clubs in Europe who see the midfielder as a player with huge potential. Barça have made it clear they will improve his deal and that he's an important player. Roberto's deal expires in June 2019 and Barça want to renew that before the end of the year.
gerard pique
It's less of a problem with Pique, whose buyout clause is 200 million euros. However, the fact he's into the final two years of his deal is a problem. Pique's deal is also up in 2019, but his salary was agreed in 2014, and a lot has changed in the market since then. Now 30, he's the experienced member of Barcelona's defence and is important to Ernesto Valverde's side.
Gerard Deulofeu
Finally, a new deal is already on the table for Deulofeu. The winger returned to the club this summer but only signed a deal until 2019. The main problem with Deulofeu is his buyout clause. At just 20 million euros, any club could sign him if they wanted. He's a player with a big future and Barça want to update his contract.
THE RENEWALS
Remember that, as the wait goes on for Lionel Messi (2021) and Andres Iniesta to sign new deals, Barça have already tied down several players over the last year: Luis Suarez (2021), Ter Stegen (2022), Ivan Rakitic (2021) and Sergio Busquets (2021 plus two more optional years).
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