Sergi Roberto and Barcelona Agree on New 5-Year Contract

Updates from Friday, Sept. 26

Sergi Roberto has signed his new Barcelona contract, an agreement that was struck in principle on Sept. 17.

The team announced the deal on their website Friday:

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Sergi Roberto has signed an extension of his contract, which was due to expire at the end of this season, but that now binds him to the club until June 30, 2019. He put pen to paper this morning in president Josep Maria Bartomeu’s office, where he was also joined by director of sport Andoni Zubizarreta and director general Antoni Rossich. The deal includes a release clause of 30 million euros, which could increase to 40 million.

Speaking after the event, the player said that “I have been at the club for eight years and renewing is a dream come true … We have a very nice year ahead, with a lot of trophies I hope, and a lot of work. I want to help the team as much as I can, whether as a starter, coming on in the second half or not even making the squad. Luis Enrique has said that he wants all of the players to be at their peak.”

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Sam Marsden of Sport provided an image of the deal:

Original Text

Barcelona central midfielder Sergi Roberto has agreed a contract extension with the Catalan giants that will keep him at the club until 2019.   

With his current contract set to expire next summer, the 22-year-old will sign his new five-year deal in the coming days, per the club's official website:

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FC Barcelona has reached an agreement with Sergi Roberto to renew his contract, which expires on June 30, 2015, until June 30, 2019. The release clause has been set at 30 million euros, which could rise to 40 million.

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Born in Catalonia, Roberto joined Barca's famed La Masia academy at the age of 14 in 2006 and made his first-team debut in 2010.

He has yet to become a regular first-team player, making just one starting appearance in La Liga last season while coming off the bench on 16 occasions. 

However, despite just the one appearance so far this season, he is clearly rated highly by the Barcelona hierarchy considering the length of his contract and value of his buyout clause.

It may well be that Roberto gets greater opportunities in the the 2014-15 campaign under new manager Luis Enrique.

It is certainly possible he may get a run out in Wednesday's Champions League-opener against Apoel, with several key midfielders missing from the squad, per ESPN's Dermot Corrigan:  

Barcelona have an incredibly strong central-midfield unit, with the likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano further complemented by new signing Ivan Rakitic.

Thus Roberto has a job on his hands to break into the first-team side but should draw a great deal of confidence from his new deal.

There are those, including Spanish football journalist Sergi Dominguez, who do not rate Roberto very highly:

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Sergi Roberto is a tad average. Baffles me how he stayed at the club while Denis Suárez [loan] was sent to Sevilla.

— Sergi Domínguez (@FutbolSergi) September 4, 2014"

However, he has hardly been given his opportunity to shine at the Camp Nou and this could be a key season in the young Spaniard's development.

With such huge quality in the Barca side, it will no doubt be difficult to get game time, but he can only thrive amidst such fantastic players.

Roberto's new contract signifies that he is likely to be given the opportunity to become one of the many products of La Masia to prove to be world-class players.