LOANED PLAYERS: Barça defines its roadmap with Oriol Romeu

FC Barcelona must define the future of Oriol Romeu in the coming weeks. The Catalan footballer, on loan to Girona for one year without an option to buy, is set to return to the club in July. However, the Azulgrana board seems to be clear about what to do with the Ulldecona native, one of the fixed discards for 2025/26.

The midfielder has accumulated 1,788 minutes of action in 20 games (21 as a starter) with Míchel's side, but his level has been far from what he showed with the 'albirrojo' side in 22/23, which convinced Barça to give him another opportunity.

Oriol left the Barça academy in 2011 to sign for Chelsea. After four years of loan spells at Valencia, Stuttgart and Southampton, he finally found stability with the 'Saints'. In 2022 he returned to Spain with Girona, where his permanence is not yet guaranteed for 25/26.

Barça does not rule out another loan to facilitate Oriol Romeu's departure

Unlike Clément Lenglet, Barça does not rule out negotiating another loan deal with Oriol Romeu, although the priority is his definitive departure. The midfielder has a contract until 2026 and his transfer should leave around 3 million euros net in the Barça coffers, as the club acquired his services in the summer of 2023 for 3.5 'kilos'.

However, as it is a lower salary, the club only needs to free up the space in the squad that he will occupy during the pre-season. The board's idea is to resolve his departure before the return to work in mid-July, although at the moment there are few teams interested in the 33-year-old player.

In his only season with the first team, the Ulldecona native played 39 games (17 as a starter) in which he only provided one assist. Xavi Hernández opted for Andreas Christensen as a pivot in the final stretch of the season after Frenkie de Jong's injury and, in the summer, he had no choice but to return to Girona.

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