Barcelona are set to undergo major changes at the end of the season, with the likes of Sergio Busquets likely to leave the club after running down his contract. Jordi Alba’s future remains unclear as well, whereas Gerard Pique has already retired from professional football.
Amid rapid changes, though, Xavi Hernandez is still keen on keeping hold of a few of his experienced players. One of them is Sergi Roberto.
According to a report from ARA, the Barcelona coach wants to keep hold of Roberto for another season. The Spaniard’s current deal at Camp Nou expires at the end of the season, but it appears Xavi is open to extending that deal to a further year.
This is because Xavi is a huge admirer of Roberto, especially due to his experience at the highest level of football. During his time at Barça, the player has indeed featured in 328 competitive matches for the club.
It seems Xavi wants Roberto to continue to be a part of the Barcelona squad, as he could always be a handy option due to his versatility. The Spaniard, after all, has been a key figure at right-back this season, in light of Ronald Araujo’s injury and Hector Bellerin’s lack of prominence.
Roberto, for his part, appears to be keen on prolonging his career at Barcelona. In fact, the versatile Spaniard wants to become the first-team caption of FC Barcelona, which could be a stark possibility if both Busquets and Alba leave the club at the end of the season.
For the time being, however, Barça are yet to finalise their intention of renewing Roberto’s contract. Perhaps a lot will be unveiled in the coming months as the club look to juggle the Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations and rope in a few new players in the upcoming January transfer window.
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