Barcelona reach agreement in principle with defender over contract | OneFootball

Barcelona are set to continue their run of contract renewals in recent months, as they look to lock down many of their key players over the coming months. The next in line could be Jules Kounde, who has reportedly reached an agreement in principle to continue at the club long-term.

The Blaugrana have already addressed the majority of their contracts expiring in 2026 for key players, although notably they must still resolve negotiations with Frenkie de Jong. There are then a number of players with their futures in the air for this summer, including Eric Garcia, Inaki Pena, Andreas Christensen and Pablo Torre.

Image via Oskar Montero / Diario AS

However Director of Football Deco has already started to look ahead to those with deals expiring in 2027 for new deals, and after talk that Raphinha and Lamine Yamal have fresh deals in the works too, Kounde has seemingly found a rough agreement on terms for a new deal until 2030 say Sport. The French defender is under contract until 2027, and would receive a small wage rise for adding an extra three years to his deal.

Now seemingly much more content with his role at right-back, Kounde would be 31 when the new deal expires, and the club are completely satisfied with him. Currently 26, he has been crucial for Hansi Flick this season, as has been the case for Xavi Hernandez since arriving on the right side of defence. He has played 43 times, scoring thrice and giving eight assists, already racking up 3,541 minutes and making him one of the most used players in Europe,

It is a further sign that Barcelona are intent on securing their future after fresh deals for Ronald Araujo, Gerard Martin, Pedri, Gavi and Inigo Martinez in recent months. That said, the suspicion continues to hang in the air that some of these deals are moves in anticipation of further salary limit trouble down the line.