Sergi Roberto has renewed with Barça until 2023. His termination clause is 400 million euros and his record is 60 percent lower than the previous contract to lighten the entity’s wage bill, which right now reaches 560 million euros. euros. In that sense, the director of football Mateu Alemany has already begun to contact the representatives of the rest of the captains to meet with them from Monday and discuss various issues, including the salary reduction.
While the rest of the directors and vice-presidents work to prepare the meeting on June 16, which will seek the approval of the partners to execute two of the economic operations that are being worked on that will allow the entity’s economy to be cleaned up, comply with fair play financial and to be able to reinvest in the sports project. In the assembly, he will put to a vote the sale of up to 49.9 percent of Barça Licensing
Sergi Roberto arrived at the Camp Nou at 1:00 p.m. dressed in a navy blue suit and a white shirt to sign his bond in an act marked by discretion and sobriety. He was accompanied by his wife Coral Simanovich and his agents from Josep Maria Orobitg’s agency. On behalf of FC Barcelona, ??the president Joan Laporta, the first vice president Rafael Yuste, the economic vice president Eduard Romeu and the director of football Mateu Alemany were already waiting for him.
Although Roberto’s renewal process has been long and at times a bit tense due to the lack of agreement, the signing was marked by kindness. The phrase “the people of La Masia must be valued” was not lacking and Sergi Roberto, happy to continue to be linked to the club of his life, was photographed in the office with the president Joan Laporta Laporta. Later, on the interior stairs of the Camp Nou offices, there was time to be photographed with the rest of the club’s representatives, both individually and collectively.
The renewal process has not been easy. Last August, within the framework of the third salary adjustment of the squad, the club began to negotiate its renewal. In September, one of the last meetings took place in which the board presented a very low proposal for the next two years with hardly any variables, the great engine of Sergi Roberto’s contract so far.
Among them, the entry of a premium for playing more than 60 percent of the games stood out, something that the footballer’s environment considers to be very complicated in the Barça first team. They insisted that if he had always entered such an amount since he arrived at the first team in 2013, it was thanks to his versatility and the effort that seduced all his coaches. In these negotiations, both parties agreed to dispense with these variables but agreed to continue negotiating the fixed amounts of the new contract. But a temporary parenthesis marked by silence was opened. Until Xavi arrived in November. At that time Roberto was injured, but Xavi knows him very well and always made it clear that he wanted to count on him.
It happens that the discomfort in the quadriceps of the right thigh had become practically a constant in the life of the man from Reus, who this year has participated in nine league games and three more in the Champions League. He finally underwent surgery at the beginning of December in Finland on the advice of Xavi himself. “He has never been one hundred percent although he has tried. I recommended that he stop, because in those cases the best thing is to ‘clean up’. And we hope that when he recovers, he will be happy and can perform at his best because the team needs him, ”explained the coach at the time of the operation.
After the intense transfer market in January, both parties had scheduled a meeting to address the situation again. But the entity did not make a move claiming to be planning and calculating the state of the financial fair play after the arrivals of Aubameyang, Adama and Ferran Torres. There was a time when both parties saw the renewal as practically impossible. In the club’s offices there were several voices that considered that Sergi Roberto’s stage at Barça had ended. Meanwhile, the player was receiving the interest of teams like Atlético de Madrid. Even so, Sergi Roberto, who is 30 years old and arrived at Barça at 14, wanted to wait. And once again Xavi pressed again and insisted that both parties resume negotiations. Grateful, Sergi Roberto hopes to recover the best version of himself for next season.
