Barcelona are working overtime to wrap up a contract agreement for superstar Lamine Yamal.
The 17-year-old is firmly established as a key player for club and country but his contract status is unresolved.
Barcelona activated an option to extend his contract to 2026 back in the summer of 2023 following his initial first team emergence.
That agreement was based around rules for contracts of players aged under 18 and the requirements needed.
Lamine Yamal turns 18 in July and the situation will then be relaxed to sign any length of contract agreed upon by all parties.
The deal in 2023 agreed a second extension, until 2030, in practice – which would be automatically activated next summer.
However, as the deal was not formalised, he remains potentially out of contract in just over 12 months’ time.
Lamine Yamal’s agent Jorge Mendes sat down with Barcelona club president Joan Laporta for fresh talks in Lisbon last week.
However, as per reports from Diario AS, no agreement was reached despite both sides remaining confident over the player staying in Barcelona until at least 2030.
Previous reports indicated the contract could be even longer with a five year clause triggered this summer.
His rise could be mirrored by Barcelona making him the club’s top earner and also raising the bar for other contract extension talks.
Barcelona are willing to meet the majority of Mendes’ demands, but they are wary of creating a situation similar to their previous one with Lionel Messi, which plunged the club into financial difficulty.
The situation could be resolved in the summer, but Barcelona will need to make adjustments, with Robert Lewandowski their current salary leader – on around €33m per year.
Lamine Yamal’s present annual wage of €2m [including variables] could be increased by 15x with Lewandowski also lowering his as part of pre-agreed deal with the Polish striker.
