Barcelona has been very busy. The club is not only busy trying to fill two spots after the signing of Neymar but are seeking to find a way out for the players that Tito Vilanova will not be counting on for next season. The Catalan club also wants to finalise its “special cases” such as those of Valdes, Thiago, Bartra or even Alexis Sánchez, who has been put on the market.
VICTOR VALDES (31)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2014
The goalkeeper and the club are playing a game of chess. Valdes said he would not mind finishing his contract at the club, and the club wouldn’t mind having him for another year. But few would put their hand in the fire and say that Valdés will be here next season because both parties are also interested in a transfer otherwise Valdés is a free agent next year.
OIER OLAZABAL (23)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2015
The keeper extended his contract in 2012 with a clause that ensured him a place in the first team. But the club will now negotiate with the keeper either a loan deal or a transfer. In fact, Oier has already said goodbye to his Barca teammates.
JONATHAN DOS SANTOS (23)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2015
Nothing has changed in the last year. The situation is the same as last summer, when Tito told him that the best he could do was accept one of the offers received from Sevilla and Everton. The club hopes that this time Jonathan does accept either a loan spell or a transfer.
MARC BARTRA (22)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2014
A difficult one. Tito has said he counts on him and the club has offered to extend his contract. However, the player, who had hardly any play time this season, suspects that it is to do business with him because he knows that Barca will sign another central player making him the sixth player in the pecking order behind Pique, Puyol, Mascherano, Adriano and the new arrival. Marc has very good offers from the Premier League and after the Euro Under-21 games in Israel, he will decide his future.
ANDREU FONTAS (23)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2015
After completing his loan spell at Mallorca, he´s back at the club knowing that he doesn’t figure in Vilanova’s plans for next season.He could go out on loan again, transferred or even having his contract terminated, allowing him to go free to another team. Among his admirers is Phillip Cocu’s PSV Eindhoven.
RAFINHA (20)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2014
He goes up to the first team by contract but will be loaned out. The club would like him to go to a team that will dispute European football so he plays more games, but Luis Enrique wants him at Celta – something that Rafinha doesn’t mind as he would go to Vigo with his mother and sister.
THIAGO (22)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2015
Thiago has two years of his contract left but not having played 60% of games has reduced his buyout clause from 90M to just 18M Euros. Thiago wants more prominence because he knows he could miss the World Cup in Brazil in 2014, his dream. Both clubs from Manchester (United and City) and Bayern Munich would be willing to take him. Like Marc Bartra, he will decide after the U21 European Championship in Israel, but Thiago looks more outside than inside Barcelona.
IBRAHIM AFELLAY (26)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2015
The Dutchman returns from his loan spell at Schalke. Tito Vilanova will not be counting on him for next season and the club will either loan him out again or try for a good transfer. If that fails then Affellay’s contract could be termintated even though the player still has two years left.
BOJAN KRKIC (22)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2015
Bojan will return home after his double assignment in Rome and Milan. AC Milan could have kept him by paying 15M Euros but instead offered just 5M Euros, which Barca refused. The player would not have minded staying in Italy but prefers new challenges. German club Hamburg travelled to Milan to offer him a deal but Bojan expects to receive a better one from La Liga or the Premier League.
GERARD DEULOFEU (19)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2017
Deulofeu is the great promise of the Barca youth academy. He has just renewed until 2017 and is in Vilanova’s good books although the coach himself understands that it is best for him to get more playing time at a club that will play Champions League football next season.Dortmund wanted to sign him and it would be the ideal destination for both Gerard and Barca.
ISAAC CUENCA (22)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2015
Ajax wanted to have one more year but Barca demanded way too much money for the transfer. The club washed their hands and told the general manager, Michael Kinsbergen, and sports director Marc Overmars, to speak with Cuenca with a view to lowering his wages which is higher than Frank de Boer’s other players. After going under the knife again, the future of Isaac Cuenca has become quite complex.
DAVID VILLA (31)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2014
Villa is leaving the club, although his destination is unknown. Villa has received good offers from Arsenal and Tottenham and the club hopes the striker will convey his decision to negotiate a transfer with the either the Gunners or Spurs. As he has only one year left on his contract with Barca, the Catalan club would settle for an amount close to 10Million euros. The player can not press too hard because, after the arrival of Neymar, who will act as a left winger, Villa won’t be playing and could lose out on World cup action as a result.
ALEXIS SANCHEZ (24)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2015
At the outset, Alexis has secured his first team place. The Barca coaches have assured him of it and are satisfied with his performance during these last two seasons at Barca. But the Chilean has a good reputation in Italy after his great performances for Udinese and if a good deal of around 20-25M Euros arrives at Barca’s doorstep, the board will consider it.
CRISTIAN Tello (21)
CONTRACT UNTIL 2016
His buyout clause is just 10Million Euros and has had calls from several big clubs that would be willing to pay the clause and double his wages as in the case of Liverpool. But his agent Orobitg, has been negotiating a renewal which seems the striker will likely sign when he gets back from Israel.
Información Bitacoras.com…
Valora en Bitacoras.com: There is a lot of movement at Barcelona these days as the transfer market gets under way. The club is trying to fill two spots in the squad as well as sorting out transfer and loan deals. This summer looks like being one of t…..