Barcelona director’s four-point plan for the upcoming transfer window – report

Barcelona will enter the 2024 summer transfer window with clear intentions, hoping to reinforce the team as efficiently as possible.

After losing out in the Spanish Super Cup final this season, and sitting a moon away from Real Madrid in La Liga, Barcelona want to compete in all competitions next season, including the Champions League.

A lot of responsibility will fall on Deco, the current Sporting Director of the club. He will have to replicate the superb job done by his predecessors in Mateu Alemany and Ramon Planes.

As such, Anais Marti Herrero reports that Deco has a four-point plan for the summer.

1. Retain key players

While Barcelona do need to sell players to raise money and potentially return to the 1:1 La Liga rule so they can sign players, Deco has seemingly decided that selling key players is not the way to go about it.

He wants to retain the services of the likes of Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo, Robert Lewandowski, and Gavi among a few others.

2. Renew Araujo

Ronald Araujo is one of the pillars of the Barcelona project, and now 25, the Uruguayan is entering his theoretical prime as a centre-back soon.

Teams from the Premier League and, of course, Bayern Munich are monitoring his situation, with his contract set to expire 2026.

Barcelona have no intention of letting Araujo leave. They are preparing a contract extension for him, with a bigger salary and an even more important role in the future.

3. Extend Felix, Cancelo loans

Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo have been important players for Barcelona this season, with the latter especially nailing down a starting position. While the former has been inconsistent, the Catalans are happy with his performance, as well.

However, with their asking prices set at around €70-80 million and €20-30 million, respectively, Barcelona want to try to extend their loan deals while paying a sum as loan fee in an attempt retain their services.

4. Extend youngsters

This season, more than anything, has been built on the success of La Masia youngsters in the team like Lamine Yamal, Pau Cubarsi, Fermin Lopez, and Hector Fort. And Barcelona want to reward them with new deals.

Cubarsi, especially, has a release clause of €10 million in his current deal, which the club want to raise up to €1 billion with his new deal.

“We’ve everything on track for Lamine Yamal’s future. It’s the same planning with Pau Cubarsi,” Deco said in a recent interview.

Yamal’s contract was extended at the start of the season until 2026, with a €1 billion release clause. However, he is expected to be an official part of the first-team next season, and will be handed another extension.