FC Barcelona has already started planning for the coming season. Superstars are to be brought in and the contracts of two key players extended.
FC Barcelona is currently refining its plans for the summer. According to information from ESPN, the Catalans have drawn up a two-part personnel plan.
One thing is clear: the Spanish record champions will be stretching their legs on the transfer market this summer. For President Josep Maria Bartomeu, whose term of office ends in 2021, this is the last opportunity to improve his reputation with the fans.
Top of the list will be the signing of strikers Neymar (Paris Saint-Germain) and Lautaro Martínez (Inter Milan).
Once these points have been checked, the club’s officials will be looking to renew the contracts of two key players, according to the report: Lionel Messi and Marc-André ter Stegen. Both players have already confirmed talks about new contracts, but neither seems to be in a hurry.
Is ter Stegen hesitating?
Ter Stegen’s contract with the Catalans runs until summer 2022, and according to ESPN information, the Barca president plans to present the German national team manager with an offer with improved conditions by the end of the season.
The goalkeeper, who moved from Mönchengladbach to Barcelona in 2014, is currently expected to earn eight million euros. With the new contract it would be even more. Experts now consider the 27-year-old German national goalkeeper the most important player after Messi.
But whether ter Stegen will accept a possible offer is questionable. In an interview with Mundo Deportivo in February, ter Stegen said: “My family and I are in good hands here, we feel at home. The intention is to continue, the philosophy and idea fit together very well,” the goalkeeper explained.
However, journalist Lluis Canut recently reported in the Catalunya Radio and Esport 3 radio programme “El Club de la Mitjanit” that ter Stegen had turned down a biography offer for next year. The whole thing with the reason: He doesn’t know if he would then still play for Barcelona.
Recently ESPN also reported about a possible interest from Juventus Turin. But a change would be expensive. The goalkeeper’s exit clause is said to be 180 million euros.