June 30 is officially the last day of the 2023/24 season. A day on which clubs take the opportunity to announce the end of their players’ contracts. In the case of Barcelona, after the transfer announced last Saturday of Sergiño Dest to PSV – the team where he was on loan – the departure of Marcos Alonso was made official this Sunday after two discreet seasons as a Barça player in which his participation has been more and less. The surprise, however, came minutes later, when Barça announced on its social networks and on its official website that João Félix and João Cancelo, on loan this year from Atlético de Madrid and Manchester City, were ending their time at the Barça club. A formality that has generated confusion, since the club and the president Joan Laporta himself have reiterated the intention to give continuity to both players. Therefore, after the commotion – one of the tweets had reached 150,000 impressions in ‘X’ (previously Twitter)—, both statements have been removed from networks and broadcast channels. The news on the website was also modified, leaving only Marcos Alonso’s goodbye.
“João Félix will not continue at FC Barcelona. He ends his relationship with the club this June 30”, the club announced on its social networks, a message accompanied by an image where one could read “thank you very much, João”. The same thing happened shortly after with Cancelo. The surprise flooded the networks with a publication that tasted like a farewell and that conflicted with the interest that Barcelona had shown in recent months. “We want the Joãos Continue, the situation has not changed and we are working on continuing for one more season. “Hansi Flick considers that they are high-quality players,” Laporta stated in the last podcast of the president with Barça One —official media of the club— at the beginning of the month. A misunderstanding and a formality with which the club intended to announce the end of his loan. Contractually, the John will no longer be part of Barcelona as of July 1. This season, João Félix has played 44 games and scored 10 goals, while João Cancelo has scored four goals in 42 games.
A different reality for Marcos Alonso. The Madrid-born player is leaving, and he is leaving with two titles – the League and the Super Cup won last season – and a participation that has declined this season after being overtaken by Cancelo and Alejandro Balde at left back. In addition, he has been suffering from problems in his lower back. While last season he participated in 37 games, this season he has played just eight.
Sergi Roberto has been left adrift, outside the fuss of press releases, but his contract also ends this Sunday, June 30. From this Monday, the youth player will be a free agent after fourteen seasons at Barcelona behind him. His future is uncertain. Hansi Flick and Deco are working on the configuration of the squad in a long summer for Barcelona that has only just begun.
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