Barcelona Transfer News: Javier Mascherano Contract Plan Amid Juventus Rumours

Barcelona technical director Robert Fernandez recently flew out to the United States to tell Javier Mascherano of the club's desire to keep him—a meeting that left the midfielder "satisfied" and will prompt further talks "to sort out a new contract."

That's according to Sport's Tomas Andreu, who noted that because the Argentinian's chances of "joining Juventus this summer remain alive," Fernandez has been spurred into action.

At the meeting, he made it clear to Mascherano that Barca "don't want him to leave and that they won't even name a price" to the Italian club, per Andreu.

The 32-year-old has been a regular fixture in the team for the last six seasons, arriving as a holding midfielder before transitioning into a centre-back to form a strong partnership with Gerard Pique.

Football journalist Rafael Hernandez believes it's vital the Blaugrana keep hold of him this summer:

Indeed, while the club are fairly well stocked in midfield—hence Mascherano has rarely featured there at the Camp Nou—after Marc Bartra's departure to Borussia Dortmund earlier this summer, Barca only have the unconvincing Jeremy Mathieu and Thomas Vermaelen as back-up.

The former Liverpool star is an outstanding ball-winner, as OptaPaolo demonstrated:

As shown by Squawka, he also showed his impressive reading of the game in La Liga last season by making 69 interceptions. As is typical for a Barcelona player, his passing is excellent, and he recorded a 90 per cent success rate last year.

At Juventus, he'd be unlikely to unseat any of their outstanding defenders, so he would most likely to return to his natural midfield role.

He could help restore the defensive contribution Arturo Vidal made in midfield before his move to Bayern Munich last summer, helping to free up the likes of Paul Pogba and Miralem Pjanic to go forward and create.

Barcelona can ill afford to lose such a key player, though, so they're likely to do everything in their power to keep him.