FC Barcelona has communicated this Friday morning the dismissal of Luka Cindric as a Blaugrana player. The Croatian central defender had a valid contract with the Catalan entity for two more seasons, until June 30, 2025. “The club thanks Luka Cindric for his professionalism and wishes him good luck and success in the future,” reads the statement issued by the culé set
Cindric, 30, arrived at FC Barcelona in the summer of 2019. In these four seasons he has been an important part of the Blaugrana team, with which he has achieved numerous successes. He has won 23 titles, highlighting the 2021 Champions League, when he was also named the competition’s player of the year, and 2022, as well as the four Asobal League titles (2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023). International with Croatia, he has also been awarded with his team, being a silver medal in the 2020 European Championship and bronze in 2016.
This departure responds to the will of FC Barcelona to reduce the budgets of some sections to alleviate their difficult economic situation. According to La Vanguardia in May, the club will reduce the handball budget by 15% with the departures of Cindric and Fàbregas, and the non-hiring of Karalek.
The first to leave was Ludo Fàbregas. Barça announced that he would leave the club at the end of June and Cindric’s departure has been made official today. Without these two men in its squad, the club will save between 600,000 and 700,000 euros net in salaries. Thus, handball will go from having a budget of 8.5 million, to about 7.2.