‘Operation shielding’ underway as Barcelona look to protect La Masia gems – report | OneFootball

There are several FC Barcelona players whose contracts are going to end in the coming two years and one of the highest priority objectives for the Catalan club is to ensure the renewals of most of these players as soon as possible.

The Blaugranes have already made significant progress towards the achievement of this objective with the renewals of Ronald Araujo and Gerard Martin. But there are several other renewal folders that they have open.

In this regard, Mundo Deportivo reports that Barcelona are now looking to ensure the continuity of the young talent in their team, mostly from La Masia, who are shining under Hansi Flick and are already established as important parts of the team.

Thus, the next two players that the Blaugranes are looking to renew are Pedri and Gavi. The latter is another academy graduate, while the former arrived at Barcelona from Las Palmas at such a young age that it is hard to tell that he is not a La Masia product. The understanding between these two players and the Blaugrana club for renewal has already been arrived at.

Similarly, tying down Lamine Yamal till 2030 will also not be too complicated, as the youngster agreed to sign a new contract till that time once he reaches the age of maturity, which he will do in July this year. However, the Catalan club will have to address the issue of raising his salary to his changed status in the team and in the market in the coming months.

Barcelona also have most of their terms agreed with the midfielder Marc Bernal, whose new contract will keep him at the club till 2026 with the option of three additional years. Only the day of a formal contract signing now remains to be finalized.

Negotiations for Inaki Pena’s new contract will begin in February. Other players like Ander Astralaga, Hector Fort, Eric Garcia, and Andres Cuenca also end their current contracts in 2026, and Barcelona are already working on the renewals of some of these players.