Barcelona have fresh concern over the contract situations of two key stars.
The Blaugrana already find themselves in a tricky situation with Ousmane Dembélé, who continues to edge towards a free departure.
Thus far, Barca have failed to tie Dembélé down to a new deal, and with his contract up at the end of the season, the situation is far from ideal.
Though, it’s not much better when it comes to the Gavi and Ronal Araujo situations.
Gavi and Araujo are both seen as pivotal parts of Barca’s future having impressed over the last year or so, in particular.
Gavi has emerged as one of the biggest young talents in recent times for Barca, while Araujo has gone from strength to strength to become a starting centre-back at Camp Nou.
The problem is that both players are out of contract in the summer of 2023, and Barca are desperate not to find themselves in a similar situation to that of Dembélé again.
They know they can’t afford to allow Araujo and Gavi to move into the final year of their respective contracts.
But so far, they have not achieved any real progress in contract talks.
Both players refused initial contract offers, and according to Sport, the club remain wide apart from the position of the players.
Araujo and Gavi want to feel valued, as far as their new salary is concerned, while Barca are desperate to save money to put all their eggs in the transfer basket this summer.
The problem for Barca is that they will have to take care of business closer to home before bringing in other players.
Araujo and Gavi are sticking to their guns, and they are right to do so.
If Barca were to go to market, it would cost them a lot more to replace Araujo and Gavi than to give them the improved contracts they are asking for.
