Barcelona Set To Renew Contract Of $36M Defender Amid Interest From Juventus, Manchester City: Report

FC Barcelona are reportedly close to extending their right-back Nelson Semedo’s contract that will run until June 2025.

With Barcelona planning to offload several players in the summer transfer window, even Semedo’s future at Nou Camp looked in doubt. Amid that, there were speculations about a possible move for Semedo to either Manchester City or Serie A sides Juventus or Inter Milan.

Semedo, who moved from Benfica to Barcelona for a transfer fee of nearly $36 million, still has two years left in his current contract with the Catalans. He had to wait before becoming a regular starter for Barcelona. Earlier, it was Sergio Roberto who was Barcelona’s choice ahead of Semedo. But under Quique Setien, Semedo has received ample opportunities and the 26-year-old defender has managed to justify the faith the Baca manager has shown in him.

According to a report in Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo, the talks over a new three-year contract between Barcelona and Semedo have entered into the "advanced" stage. While the new terms are yet to be decided, the report has claimed that Barca will increase Semedo’s wages and better his release clause, which currently is $117 million and is one of the lowest in the squad.

It is understood that Barca are working on four players’ contract extensions including Semedo, Lionel Messi, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and 17-year-old forward Ansu Fati.

Semedo kickstarted his soccer career in 2011 at Portuguese club Sintrense, which plays in the country’s third division league, before making his first-team professional debut with Benfica in 2015. He spent two seasons at the Lisbon-based club before moving to La Liga giants Barcelona in the summer of 2017. In the last three seasons with the Catalans, Semedo has made 122 competitive appearances for the club and has won two La Liga titles, one Copa de Rey and one Spanish Super Cup’s trophy.

It is believed that Barcelona’s top priorities this summer is to get Messi and Ter Stegen to sign new deals because the two big names in European soccer are being chased by several clubs. Contracts of Messi and Ter Stegen are set to expire in June 2022 and Barcelona do not want to drag their renewals to the final few months.