Barcelona are looking at offering captain Carles Puyol a year-by-year contract until he finally calls time on his playing career.
The Catalan club want to ensure the 34-year-old remains at the Camp Nou as long as he feels the need to carry on playing, and believe that automatically renewing the player’s contract every 12 months is ideal for both parties.
Puyol’s existing contract expires next June and in theory he will be become a free agent in January, able to negotiate with other clubs.
In practice, however, the central defender has no intention of leaving the club and according to Mundo Deportivo he would be open to the idea of a yearly renewal so long as he felt his form deserved it.
Having previously stated his desire to carry on playing for as long as possible, it is an arrangement that would suit Puyol, given he has struggled with injury for the best part of the last two years, and he has already told the club’s hierarchy that penning a new deal will be no problem.
It is also understood that Barca are looking even longer-term and have a number of other proposals for Puyol when he does decide to hang up his boots.