Deco confirms four contract renewals, talks de Jong and Araujo futures

Barcelona Director of Football Deco has confirmed three contract renewals, while also noting that it was ‘probable’ that Jules Kounde renews his deal. The head of the Blaugrana recruitment was also optimistic about the futures of Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo.

One of the revelations of the season has been Raphinha, who was questioned heavily for his performances, and the general feeling is that Barcelona were pushing him towards the door. Deco confirmed reports to RAC1 (via MD) that Raphinha would renew his deal with the club.

“I’ve known him for a long time. The first year is good, the second is a bit of a downturn, but this year is brutal. He’ll renew for another year – he has two more left now. To be a Barca player, you have to be at 200%. Raphinha didn’t want to leave from the first minute. He showed complete confidence in himself, and we were delighted because what we wanted was to raise our level.”

‘Frenkie de Jong isn’t to blame for contract’ – Deco

One of the major contract issues to resolve is the future of Frenkie de Jong, who has just a year left on his contract. The Blaugrana stance is that either he renews his deal at a lower rate, or they will look to sell him.

“Frenkie isn’t to blame for earning what he earns. Frenkie is a player who has taken a step further than we expected. Now he’s committed, involved, feels good, and is a very important player for us. We can’t look to the past. His contract hasn’t been fair to him, because sometimes you earn less at the beginning and then more in later years. We have to think about the future, and we’ve told him that we want him to be with us. We haven’t directly addressed the issue of Frenkie, but for now we’re happy. He has one year left on his contract.”

Deco was not expecting much in the way of departures this season though.

“This week we’ll sit down with the coach. We don’t think any player is asking to leave. If I were a player, I’d want to be here.”

‘Ronald Araujo is happy at Barcelona’

On the other hand Ronald Araujo did renew his contract with the club in January until 2031, but reportedly has a release clause in his deal that allows him to leave for €65m in the early stages of July. In addition, he has also lost his starting spot.

Deco: “I still haven’t seen how VAR has improved football. It was there to help, but it’s created more confusion and more doubt. When you do something to improve and years go by and it hasn’t improved, you have to look at what you can do, change the rules or something, for…

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 22, 2025

“Football is fun for that reason [the uncertainty]. For me, Araujo is one of the best centre-backs in the world, but it’s true that players, for whatever reason, can have a worse season. He came back to a team that was at a great level, but we can’t forget the level he’s at. From here on out, players have to be truly at Barca. I think Ronald is happy.”

‘If Ansu Fati wants to improve, we’ll talk’

One of the few exits that has almost been taken as a given is Ansu Fati though. Deco was subtle, but challenged Fati to take on a new challenge.

“In football, there’s no such thing as a delicate situation; football is what it is. First, he had a spectacular start, then the injuries came. He went on loan to Brighton, had a great preseason because we wanted to get him back, and then the injury hit. Everyone makes their own analysis of what they want in their career. If they think he needs more minutes, we’ll talk about it. He’s a player who has a contract with us, and we’re happy with him. If he wants to improve, we’ll talk.”

‘We want Eric Garcia to continue with us’

Another of the players out of contract in 2026 is Eric Garcia, who since January has become one of Barcelona’s most important players. Barcelona are keen to retain him as well.

“I have a lot of confidence in his coach, Ivan de la Pena, a friend. When he returned from his loan at Girona, he came back much more confident, and I told Ivan, ‘Let him stay here.’ If you have important offers where Eric can play, I understand, but for us, he’s a very important player. It’s not easy to have a great game and then return to the bench. He’s helped us a lot, and of course, we want him to stay.”

Contract renewals on the horizon

Although both had been reported previously, Deco confirmed that both Marc Bernal and Marc Casado would pen new deals.

“He turns 18 on May 27th, and we’ll improve his contract, just like Casado.”

Deco: “Nico Williams? He’s a great player. He showed it in the EUROs, although this year he dipped a bit. Last season we had two players who could improve the team. One was Nico and the other Olmo. From the start, Dani showed he wanted to come to Barça, Nico didn’t, which is why…

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) May 22, 2025

Deco also termed it as ‘probable’ that Jules Kounde would renew his deal too.

“He’s key for us. He brings a lot to a match, gives us stability, defends very well, and never complains if he has to defend a two-on-one because Lamine unbalances the team up front. We need to keep these types of players around as long as possible.”

Barcelona plans for the summer transfer window

In the same interview, Deco declared that the best signing Barcelona could make was to renew Lamine Yamal’s contract, with the teenage superstar turning 18 this summer. In addition, he was understandably coy about the prospect of signing Luis Diaz, who is supposedly their top target. As has been the case for the past five years, Barcelona will be hostage to their salary limit situation, perhaps influencing the desire to get contracts renewed and registered first.