Barcelona's Urgent Contract Upgrades for Rising Stars
Barcelona’s transfer window may be closed, but the real battle has just moved in-house.
Deco and his technical team have switched straight from chasing signings to locking down the jewels already inside the club. The mission is blunt and urgent: upgrade the contracts of the youngsters who have broken into Hansi Flick’s first team before their outdated release clauses invite trouble.
These deals were signed when the players were still in the academy or Barça Atlètic. They no longer fit the reality on the pitch.
Barça move to shut the door
At the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper, there is a clear fear: losing rising stars for fees that Europe’s elite can easily afford. According to SPORT, talks with the camps of Abdelkarim, Espart and Farinas started around two weeks ago, and all sides sense that an agreement is close.
Barcelona want everything wrapped up by the end of the month. Not just for peace of mind, but to send a message. These three are part of the long-term core, and any club thinking of swooping in will have to pay a premium, not pick up a bargain.
Espart, the early-season revelation
No youngster has changed the conversation in Catalonia quite like Espart.
Still a teenager, he has already convinced Flick to trust him from the start, lining up in the first three La Liga fixtures of the campaign. He has covered several roles with a calm that belies his age, and the coaching staff have responded by handing him the number 12 shirt.
The problem sits in the fine print. His release clause remains stuck at €20 million, a figure set when he was just another academy prospect. For a player now performing in Flick’s XI, that number is a glaring invitation.
Barcelona plan to treat his case the way they did with Lamine Yamal and Pau Cubarsí: a new contract, and a huge, deterrent clause that reflects how highly they rate his trajectory. The club want any interested side to think twice, then a third time.
Abdelkarim: from modest clause to massive wall
If Espart is the breakout story, Abdelkarim is the emergency.
The Egyptian striker arrived from Al Ahly with a release clause of just €15 million. Since then, his value has rocketed. He shone at the youth World Cup over the summer and has already made his senior competitive debut for Barça. Flick doesn’t see him as a luxury option. He sees him as part of his tactical blueprint.
That combination – international exposure, first-team minutes and a bargain exit fee – is exactly what keeps sporting directors across Europe awake at night. And it has forced Barcelona to act.
The new proposal on the table is brutal in its clarity: a ten-fold jump to a €150m release clause. One stroke of the pen to close the escape hatch. SPORT report that relations between the club and the player’s entourage are excellent, and there is no expectation of a drawn-out battle. Both sides understand what is at stake.
Farinas, the one Flick refused to lose
Farinas’s situation turned on a single intervention.
He was close to leaving for Girona in the summer. Then Flick stepped in, personally blocking the move and insisting that the midfielder had a place in the first-team rotation. That decision changed everything.
Farinas has since been handed the number 4 shirt, previously worn by Ronald Araújo, a symbolic upgrade that underlines his new status as a full member of the senior squad. But like Espart, his contract still carries a €20m clause – far too low for a player now seen as part of Barça’s present, not just its future.
For Deco and his team, that figure is no longer acceptable. It’s a liability.
So the sprint continues behind closed doors. The transfer market may be quiet, but inside Barcelona, the real race is to make sure that the club’s next generation doesn’t walk out the door for yesterday’s prices.
