Barcelona announce contract renewal for Pedri

Barcelona have announced a third contract renewal in the space of a week, after a new deal for Pedri was confirmed on Thursday afternoon. There was little suggestion that the Canary Islander would be going anywhere else, nor that he wanted to, but with just 18 months left on his previous deal, it will be a relief for Barcelona to get it over the line.

His new contract will run until 2030, securing his future for a further four years beyond his previous one. He follows on from renewals that had been announced for Ronald Araujo last week, followed by Gerard Martin. It is expected that Gavi will also renew his deal with the club imminently after reaching an agreement on terms, and Lamine Yamal is also due to be renewed before the start of next season once he turns 18.

Pedri, still just 22 years of age, burst onto the scene in 2020 at the age of just 17, but had been in and out of action for the past two seasons through a string of injuries. This season he has put fitness issues behind him though, returning to his best and dictating play for a Barcelona that once again look like challengers in Europe.

This season he has been involved in 2,459 minutes already, scoring 4 times and assisting 4 times in 32 games. Appearing in every single game but one through illness last weekend against Valencia, Pedri has started in 30 of those matches, seemingly benefitting from the consistent game time.

Sporting Director Deco has set a goal not to have anyone in the Barcelona squad go into next season with just a year left on their deal, meaning all at risk of doing so must be handed new deals or sold in the summer. With Pedri, Martin and Araujo renewed, and deals for Gavi, Inigo Martinez and Lamine Yamal expected to follow, Deco has crossed off a significant part of his to-do list. However Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen, Frenkie de Jong, Inaki Pena and Hector Fort are all situations to be resolved.