Barcelona hit a roadblock in key defender’s renewal as La Liga believe they do not have enough salary margin | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have successfully completed several renewal operations in the last two months, with important players like Ronald Araujo, Pedri, Gavi, and Pau Cubarsi extending their stay at the Blaugrana club.

Meanwhile, Deco is looking to start negotiations with several more players to extend their contracts, and one such player who was expected to get a renewal was the defender Inigo Martinez.

The Basque center-back has a clause in his current contract that will allow him to get an automatic one-year extension if he played 60% of matches this season, but the Catalans have decided to reward him with a new contract even before he meets this target to show their trust in a player who is going to be 34 years old next year.

However, as Mundo Deportivo has reported, the Blaugrana club’s plans in this regard have hit a roadblock, as La Liga believes that they do not have enough salary margin at the moment to register him for the next season.

Following their return to the 1:1 rule in January, Barcelona had contacted Martinez’s agent to arrive at a formal agreement for his extension. However, at the last minute, the league authorities reminded the Catalans that the player cannot be registered for the next season because there is not enough space on their wage bill.

Barcelona believe that there should be no need to re-register the defender in the first place, as a one-year extension was already stipulated in his last contract. However, La Liga argues that he will have to be registered again, as, unlike Robert Lewandowski, who was fully registered for four seasons after his arrival, the center-back was not registered for three years when he joined the Blaugranes.

Despite this barrier, the Azulgrana side is not really worried about Martinez’s continuity, as they are confident they will have enough salary margin when the market opens on 1st July to keep the defender registered with La Liga.