<\/p>\n
Barcelona Director of Football Deco has confirmed three contract renewals, while also noting that it was \u2018probable\u2019 that Jules Kounde renews his deal. The head of the Blaugrana recruitment was also optimistic about the futures of Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo.<\/p>\n
One of the revelations of the season has been Raphinha, who was questioned heavily for his performances, and the general feeling is that Barcelona were pushing him towards the door. Deco confirmed reports to RAC1 (via MD<\/a>) that Raphinha would renew his deal with the club.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve known him for a long time. The first year is good, the second is a bit of a downturn, but this year is brutal. He\u2019ll renew for another year \u2013 he has two more left now. To be a Barca player, you have to be at 200%. Raphinha didn\u2019t want to leave from the first minute. He showed complete confidence in himself, and we were delighted because what we wanted was to raise our level.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the major contract issues to resolve is the future of Frenkie de Jong, who has just a year left on his contract. The Blaugrana stance is that either he renews his deal at a lower rate, or they will look to sell him.<\/p>\n \u201cFrenkie isn\u2019t to blame for earning what he earns. Frenkie is a player who has taken a step further than we expected. Now he\u2019s committed, involved, feels good, and is a very important player for us. We can\u2019t look to the past. His contract hasn\u2019t been fair to him, because sometimes you earn less at the beginning and then more in later years. We have to think about the future, and we\u2019ve told him that we want him to be with us. We haven\u2019t directly addressed the issue of Frenkie, but for now we\u2019re happy. He has one year left on his contract.\u201d<\/p>\n Deco was not expecting much in the way of departures this season though.<\/p>\n \u201cThis week we\u2019ll sit down with the coach. We don\u2019t think any player is asking to leave. If I were a player, I\u2019d want to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n On the other hand Ronald Araujo did renew his contract with the club in January until 2031, but reportedly has a release clause in his deal that allows him to leave for \u20ac65m in the early stages of July. In addition, he has also lost his starting spot.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball is fun for that reason [the uncertainty]. For me, Araujo is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but it\u2019s true that players, for whatever reason, can have a worse season. He came back to a team that was at a great level, but we can\u2019t forget the level he\u2019s at. From here on out, players have to be truly at Barca. I think Ronald is happy.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the few exits that has almost been taken as a given is Ansu Fati though. Deco was subtle, but challenged Fati to take on a new challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cIn football, there\u2019s no such thing as a delicate situation; football is what it is. First, he had a spectacular start, then the injuries came. He went on loan to Brighton, had a great preseason because we wanted to get him back, and then the injury hit. Everyone makes their own analysis of what they want in their career. If they think he needs more minutes, we\u2019ll talk about it. He\u2019s a player who has a contract with us, and we\u2019re happy with him. If he wants to improve, we\u2019ll talk.\u201d<\/p>\n Another of the players out of contract in 2026 is Eric Garcia, who since January has become one of Barcelona\u2019s most important players. Barcelona are keen to retain him as well.<\/p>\n \u201cI have a lot of confidence in his coach, Ivan de la Pena, a friend. When he returned from his loan at Girona, he came back much more confident, and I told Ivan, \u2018Let him stay here.\u2019 If you have important offers where Eric can play, I understand, but for us, he\u2019s a very important player. It\u2019s not easy to have a great game and then return to the bench. He\u2019s helped us a lot, and of course, we want him to stay.\u201d<\/p>\n Although both had been reported previously, Deco confirmed that both Marc Bernal and Marc Casado would pen new deals.<\/p>\n \u201cHe turns 18 on May 27th, and we\u2019ll improve his contract, just like Casado.\u201d<\/p>\n Deco also termed it as \u2018probable\u2019 that Jules Kounde would renew his deal<\/a> too.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s key for us. He brings a lot to a match, gives us stability, defends very well, and never complains if he has to defend a two-on-one because Lamine unbalances the team up front. We need to keep these types of players around as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n In the same interview, Deco declared that the best signing Barcelona could make was to renew Lamine Yamal\u2019s contract, with the teenage superstar turning 18 this summer. In addition, he was understandably coy about the prospect of signing Luis Diaz, who is supposedly their top target. As has been the case for the past five years, Barcelona will be hostage to their salary limit situation, perhaps influencing the desire to get contracts renewed and registered first.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The post Deco confirms four Barcelona contract renewals, talks Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo<\/a> appeared first on Football Espa\u00f1a<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Barcelona Director of Football Deco has confirmed three contract renewals, while also noting that it was \u2018probable\u2019 that Jules Kounde renews his deal.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":567,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[15],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=565"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":566,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/565\/revisions\/566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=565"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=565"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.piquant-burotic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=565"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u2018Frenkie de Jong isn\u2019t to blame for contract\u2019 \u2013 Deco<\/h2>\n
\u2018Ronald Araujo is happy at Barcelona\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018If Ansu Fati wants to improve, we\u2019ll talk\u2019<\/h3>\n
\u2018We want Eric Garcia to continue with us\u2019<\/h3>\n
Contract renewals on the horizon<\/h2>\n
Barcelona plans for the summer transfer window<\/h3>\n