Barcelona spent most of last week in Saudi Arabia for the Spanish Supercup, coming out victorious over rivals Real Madrid in an emphatic way. That adds a few million euros to their accounts, but the Saudi football empire is keen to do more business with the Blaugrana.
After securing the signing of Franck Kessie two summers ago, Sport say that Saudi Arabia discussed the future of five possible recruits from the Barcelona team while the Blaugrana were in Jeddah. One of those is Raphinha, heavily linked with a move to the Middle East last summer, but is now considered untouchable by Barcelona.
Robert Lewandowski to Ronald Araújo: “Ronald… You should stay, at least until the end of the season. @ElDiaDespues https://t.co/hXDK6sKYzU
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 13, 2025
This is not the case for Frenkie de Jong, Andreas Christensen or Ansu Fati, who Barcelona is expected to try to move in the summer. Perhaps the most interesting case is Robert Lewandowskiwho has one year left on his deal, but could see it extended for another year until 2027 depending on the number of games he plays. The Saudi offer for Lewandowski came last summer, and he is expected to try again – that deal will depend on whether a 37-year-old Lewandowski from next August still wants to compete at the highest level.
The Polish forward has perhaps been the least impressive of Barcelona's front three this season, but remains their top scorer with 26 goals and 3 assists in just 27 appearances so far. This makes him by far the best number nine in Spain statistically, but there is a feeling that his form is sliding, and Barcelona are certainly looking for long-term alternatives.
