Since the summer transfer window closed at the start of the month, Barcelona sporting director Deco has been hard at work. Rather than focusing on incomings and outgoings, he’s been tasked with tying down several players to new contracts, and his work over the last few weeks has turned out to be rather fruitful.
Over the last few days, the big focus has been on Raphinha. The 29-year-old, whose hat-trick in the victory over Sevilla on Saturday has taken him to 14 goals in eight matches at the start of the season, is under contract until 2028, but rather than risk him entering the final 12 months, Barcelona have been keen to tie him down to a new deal.
Talks between Raphinha, who has no agent, and club officials have [taken place this week](https://barcanewsnetwork.com/barcelona-make-major-raphinha-move-amid-arsenal-interest/), and there has been a lot of movement towards a positive outcome – which has now been reached. Speaking at the Barcelona Delegates’ Assembly (via [Sport](https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/barca/deco-anuncia-renovaciones-raphinha-espart-134465266)) on Saturday, Deco confirmed that “(Raphinha’s renewal) has been on track since yesterday, we have agreed that he will continue until 2030”.
It’s not only Raphinha that will be extending his stay at Barcelona in the coming days/weeks, as Deco also revealed that Marc Bernal and Xavi Espart are poised to pen new deals, keeping them at the Spotify Camp Nou for many years to come. The La Masia graduates have developed into key squad players under Hansi Flick, and with their contracts due to expire in 2029 and 2028 respectively, it was a no-brainer to tie them down for longer.
There is a lot of good feelings within Barcelona after their outstanding start to the 2026-27 season, and these three pieces of news will only have made things even better. Keeping Raphinha, Bernal and Espart for even longer is excellent.