Barcelona close two major contract renewals until 2030

Barcelona brought in Dani Olmo last summer in a deal worth at least €55m from RB Leipzig, but since the priority for the Blaugrana has been contract renewals, something voiced publicly by Sporting Director Deco. None are bigger than those relating to Pedri and Ronald Araujo.

According to Marca, both Pedri and Ronald Araujo have agreed to renew their contracts with Barcelona, and will sign on until 2030. The contract renewals will be announced in the coming days and will be signed before the end of the transfer window on the third of February.

They say that negotiations with Pedri, which have been ongoing for months, were simple and carried out calmly, while Deco had to move quickly to open talks with Araujo after Juventus offered €35m for the Uruguayan. Barcelona required closer to the €70-80m mark, but were not keen on letting him go – it is left open that something could change if Araujo wants to leave in the summer again.

In addition, contract renewals for left-back Gerard Martin and Gavi are also on the verge of being done. Barcelona want to seal the contract renewals and see the impact on their salary limit before potentially going into the transfer market, where Manchester United forward Marcus Rashford is their priority.

Araujo’s future beyond the summer is a question that remains open-ended, and the news will be of interest not only to Juventus, but also to Arsenal. The value of his release clause is a point of intrigue, with many reports claiming that while Deco had convinced Araujo to stay, he had only done so until the summer. One of the conditions was reportedly that Barcelona would insert an ‘affordable’ release clause in case he should want to move on. His primary concern, with talk of Jonathan Tah potentially joining the club, and Inigo Martinez settled as a starter, is that he will not play a key role for the Blaugrana.