Busy day behind the scenes for Barca
As the reigning La Liga and Copa del Rey winners are preparing for a hectic preseason schedule, it also seems the club are equally as busy behind the scenes.
It was announced on Tuesday in Sport that the club have finally extended the sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways, for another season at least. The frustrating negotiations lasted weeks and will buy the club some more time while they look for a longer term solution to the sponsorship issue. It seems as if the renewal will add between €35-40million to the champions’ coffers.
Besides this much needed confirmation, the club have also announced that La Masia graduates Sergio Samper and Munir El Haddadi have renewed their contracts until 2019. In the case of 21 year old Samper, his buyout clause will increase to €50million while Munir will now stand at €60million.
Despite renewing their deals, both players face an uncertain short term future, with the club hoping for a loan deal for midfielder Samper to gain some experience. AS have reported that Real Sociedad have shown an interest in Munir as they look to bolster their attack ahead of the new season.
On the transfer front, their has been a departure from the Camp Nou with talented youngster Alen Halilovic sealing a transfer to German club Hamburg for just €5million. The 20 year old attacking midfielder has signed a four year deal but as part of the transfer, Barca have secured a buy-back option for the next two years, €10million after the first year, rising to €12.5million in the second season.