Nico Gonzalez, 20, a young prodigy of FC Barcelona already performed deservingly to name himself as one of the rising stars at Barca under Xavi’s management last season and the club rewarded him with a contract extension for next few years.
Barcelona announced on Saturday that Nico has agreed to extend his contract, although the young midfielder will spend the season on loan at Valencia in order to assure regular playing time.
Why did Barcelona exclude Nico Gonzalez for the upcoming season?
FC Barcelona’s new manager Xavi Hernandez is already famous for nurturing young and talented players in his first team and Nico Gonzalez was among them alongside Pedri, Gavi and Puig.
Nico opted to extend his contract by two years and is now under contract with Barcelona until 2026, with a new buyout clause of 1 billion euros ($1 billion) according to several twitter news.
📝 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐄: Nico Gonzalez has extended his contract at Barcelona until 2026 and has been loaned to Valencia for the season.
(📸 @valenciacf) pic.twitter.com/9CC6XgvGG8
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) August 13, 2022
The above social media post also confirmed that Nico will play for Valencia and quoted, “Nico Gonzalez has extended his contract at Barcelona until 2026 and has been loaned to Valencia for the season.”
The talented Spanish had a career season under former coach Ronald Koeman, but his playing time dried up when Xavi Hernández took over as coach midway through the season.
Nico landed at Valencia on Wednesday and explained that he was joining Valencia to play more often as competition for slots in Catalonia heats up.
On Friday, Xavi stated that he wanted Nico to stay, but the youngster requested a loan transfer so that he could play more and with Nico’s transfer to Valencia, Xavi is lacking the long-term alternative for veteran defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets.
Barcelona stated that the one-season loan agreement does not contain a buy option for Valencia, which will alienate some stress for the Barcelona fanbase in the long run.
