When their contracts expire in a year, the Barcelona defense of Marcos Alonso and Sergi Roberto won’t reportedly receive contract extensions from the Spanish champions.
Although Alonso and Roberto are two of Barca’s most seasoned defenders at 31 and 32 years old, respectively, they have barely made an impression on the 2023–24 campaign.
This season, Barcelona has excelled at full-back thanks to the play of Joao Cancelo and Alejandro Balde. Ronald Araujo, Inigo Martinez, and Jules Kounde can also play wide.
Currently, Alonso and Roberto have contracts that expire at the end of the current campaign. They can begin pre-contract negotiations with overseas teams in January, but Barca has the option to exercise one-year options that extend until 2025.
It would have been difficult to imagine Barcelona authorizing extensions for the two given their advancing years and standing in the hierarchy, and Sport reports that the club does not intend to keep them around.
Alonso may still play a significant role for the Spanish champions between now and the end of the season, but Barcelona won’t make any final decisions until after the January transfer window.
The former Chelsea player signed a free transfer to join the Blaugrana last year. He played 37 games for Xavi’s squad in all competitions, scoring three goals and winning a La Liga championship.
But Balde’s rise has coincided with the departure of longtime player Jordi Alba, and this season, Alonso has only made six appearances, starting two La Liga games and one Champions League match.
Alonso may see more starts in the upcoming months as Barcelona watches how much work Balde puts in throughout the season. A short-term extension has not been ruled out.
The left-back signed a new contract with a 12-month option back in January, but the report also states that if he wants to stay at Camp Nou, he will need to accept a significant pay cut. Nevertheless, he is not anticipated to be short on options for out.
In March, just a few months before Roberto took over as the Blaugrana captain in place of Sergio Busquets, Barcelona also approved a new deal for the long-serving player.
Similar to Alonso, Roberto has only made six appearances overall and two starts in La Liga this season. He did score once, though, in a 2-2 top-flight draw with Granada last month.
Since that match on October 8, the adaptable Spaniard—who has represented Barcelona as a right-back and central midfielder this season—has been out due to a muscular ailment, and it is unknown when he might be able to play again.
After Xavi pushed for a deal, Roberto gladly accepted a renewal on lower wages, but it’s rumored that everyone is aware that his time at Camp Nou is now coming to an end.
The defender joined Barca’s La Masia academy in 2006 and has since made 355 appearances for the team, tallying 17 goals and 40 assists while also taking home 22 major honors. tags for body check.
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