Why did Barcelona signed both Marcos Alonso and Hector Bellerin on a one-year contract?
Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso, two Spanish full backs who left their contracts with Chelsea and Arsenal, respectively, and moved to Barcelona on free transfers, were acquired by Barcelona this past summer as a result of two last-minute transactions.
Following the departure of Sergino Dest, Bellerin, a former La Masia pupil, rejoins the team to offer options at right-back. While Jordi Alba appears to have lost the trust of Xavi and his coaching staff, Alonso has been brought in to reinforce the left-back position.
However, Barcelona has only offered Bellerin and Alonso one-year contracts under their short-term deals. In fact, under the present contract, the Spanish full-backs will be unemployed on June 30, 2023.
Catalunya Radio has now clarified the reasoning behind Barça’s decision to offer Bellerin and Alonso only a one-year deal.
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According to the report, the Catalan powerhouses ran into some late Financial Fair Play issues that would have made registering Bellerin and Alonso challenging. As a result, they only agreed to one-year contracts with the pair, paying them a pitiful amount.
According to the source, Barcelona will initiate contract extensions and pay increases for Alonso and Bellerin in January.
The promise to extend the contract in Alonso’s situation is assured. A contract extension for Bellerin, who makes less than half of what he did at Arsenal, would depend on how many minutes he plays throughout the course of the season.
Barcelona has already decided to spend big money on a new right-back next summer, with Brazilian star Vanderson of AS Monaco as a target. It will therefore be intriguing to observe if they choose to extend Bellerin’s contract beyond its current term.
