Barcelona Shifts Focus to Renewing Young Talent After Summer Signings
Barcelona’s transfer window might be closed, but the work has not stopped. After a summer of heavyweight signings, the club have moved straight into what feels like a second market: tying down the young core that Hansi Flick has pushed into the spotlight.
The message from the sporting department is clear. If you perform, you get paid – and you stay.
After six big signings, focus swings to the kids
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barça’s business in the market was anything but quiet. Rodri, Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi, Gabriel Jesus, Joao Cancelo and highly rated youngster Jesse Bisheo all arrived in a bold reshaping of the squad.
Now the window is shut, the attention has turned inwards. Flick has handed responsibility to a cluster of young players, and the club want their contracts to reflect their new status. Every name on the list is under 25. Every one of them has earned this.
Hamza Abdelkarim leads the way
The first to be rewarded: Hamza Abdelkarim.
At 18, the striker lit up pre-season, showing the kind of penalty-box instincts Barça have been desperate to see from their academy forwards. The club did not wait around. His deal has been upgraded with a higher salary, a longer commitment until 2030 and a boosted release clause.
It sets the tone. Produce under Flick, and the club will move quickly.
Marc Bernal, promise kept
Marc Bernal is next in line and his case says a lot about how Barça want to operate.
The 19-year-old midfielder is already under contract until 2029. When he suffered a knee injury, the club didn’t hesitate: they improved his deal and hiked his release clause to 500 million euros, adding a verbal promise – if he came back strong and delivered, they would revisit his terms again.
He has done exactly that since returning. Flick trusts him, the minutes have followed, and now the time has come to formalise that earlier pledge. Deco has already spoken with his agent, Raul Verdu, to push the renewal forward.
Gerard Martin, from reliable option to long-term pillar
Gerard Martin, 24, is another Flick regular whose situation is on the table.
His current deal runs until 2028 with a 100 million euro release clause, but Barça want more security. The plan is simple: extend the contract, raise the salary, and lift the clause to protect a player the coach leans on in key moments.
Martin knows exactly where he stands. The club have made their intentions clear, and the expectation is that both sides will move towards a longer agreement.
Xavi Espart, Flick’s big bet
If there is one name that captures Flick’s courage this season, it is Xavi Espart.
The 19-year-old arrived in 2025 on a contract until 2028, but on reserve-team terms. That made sense back then. It doesn’t now. Espart has a first-team number, a growing role, and a coach who has gambled on him at the highest level.
His agent is the same as Ferran Torres’s, a detail that could have complicated things in another context. Barça, though, are calm. They expect negotiations to be straightforward and want his new deal to mirror his new reality in the dressing room.
Bryan Farinas, from almost out the door to 2031
The final name on the renewal list is Bryan Farinas, 20, whose season almost took a very different turn.
He was close to joining Girona, only for Frenkie de Jong’s injury to change everything. Flick stepped in, chose to keep him, and Farinas was handed a first-team number. His impact has justified that call, but his pay packet has not caught up: he is still on a reserve-team salary.
That will change. The club plan to renew him until 2031, aligning his wages and status with the role he now plays in Flick’s squad.
Six major signings have grabbed the headlines, but Barcelona’s next phase is quieter and just as important: protecting the young spine that could define the Flick era for years to come.
