Barcelona midfielder turned down offers from Italy and England to stay despite pay cut

Some of the senior players at Barcelona were in the line of fire earlier this month due to them not agreeing to take pay cuts amid the club’s struggles to register their new signings.

One of the four club captains, Gerard Pique, made the first move by agreeing to a substantial reduction in his salary, which allowed Barcelona to register the likes of Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia in time for their season opener against Real Sociedad.

In light of this, fingers were being pointed at the other club captains – Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto, for not following suit. However, it soon emerged that the trio, like Pique, had agreed to lower their salaries and pen new terms.

Both Alba and Roberto came out and spoke about being hurt over the treatment that was meted out to them. Now that it has become clear that each of the four club captains will be signing new deals with reduced terms, more light has been shed on the contract situation of one player in particular – Sergi Roberto.

The 29-year-old utility man, who was made the third captain this summer following the departure of Lionel Messi, is in the final year of his contract with Barcelona.

However, as per a report from SPORT, Roberto will now be penning an extension till 2024, with talks already set to begin between the club and his agents.

Roberto, whose stock had diminished over the past year due to the arrival of Sergino Dest and his own injury troubles, had multiple offers from Italy and England. In fact, former mentor Pep Guardiola, who handed him his Barcelona debut, was keen on a reunion with the versatile midfielder at Manchester City.

Roberto, however, always wanted to stay at Camp Nou, and it seems only a matter of time before an extension till 2024 is signed, in spite of the lowered terms.