It’s a strange moment when a young player refuses to sign a new deal and signals an intention to leave, because their existing club will see little reason to put any resources into continuing their development.
That seemed to be the case with Barcelona and talented youngster Konrad de la Fuente. ESPN reported a few months ago that he was refusing to sign a new deal, so Barcelona gave him an ultimatum to either accept it or he would be sidelined for the rest of the season.
It’s also interesting to note that they also indicated that a big reason for this was the youngster wanted to link up with Jurgen Klinsmann at Hertha Berlin – but he quit the club in February.
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It’s not clear if that played a big part in the latest development, but ESPN have since reported that he’s agreed a new deal which will keep him at the Nou Camp until 2022.
They also claim that his new release clause will initially be set at €50m, but it will double if he’s promoted to the first team at any point.
That suggests the Barcelona ultimatum finally paid off, so hopefully he does get a chance to break into the first team in the next couple of seasons.