Reports | Ilaix Moriba close to renewing a new contract with Barcelona despite long-term dispute
Ilaix Moriba has one year left on his current contract
|According to Goal, Barcelona and Ilaix Moriba have still not finalised a new contract agreement with matters having reportedly taken an ugly new turn. Blaugrana manager Ronald Koeman rates Moriba highly and reportedly hopes that the deal is done before the start of the 2021-22 La Liga season.
Ilaix Moriba is a highly rated youngster having emerged out of Barcelona’s La Masia academy. A personal favourite of manager Ronald Koeman, Moriba is said to be an important part of the new project at Barcelona especially after the youngster's performances towards the end of last season. It has seen reports indicate that Koeman does not want to even consider the possibility one of the pearls of La Masia will leave for free once their deal ends at the end of next season.
He wants him in pre-season and believes he could feature prominently in the upcoming Liga campaign if matters are resolved. But things have taken an ugly turn since then, in a bid to keep hold of Moriba and make him sign the contract, reports have indicated that the Blaugrana have held him out of all pre-season training. This includes training with the first team and the club will not allow him to play in any competition until an agreement is reached.
However, Goal has reported that the relationship between the club and Ilaix has improved in recent days which has seen Ronald Koeman and many within Barcelona believe that an agreement is close to fruition. Although nothing has been confirmed, a possible deal until June 2024 is now under serious consideration despite the fact that things were at a complete standstill a few weeks ago.
