Sergi Roberto agrees new Barcelona contract
By Tom Gott
Sergi Roberto has agreed a new two-year contract extension with Barcelona - and the deal is set to be made official next week.
Having entered the final 12 months of his contract, Roberto began the summer on the transfer list at Camp Nou but eventually talked his way into an extension, with those in charge at Barcelona prepared to keep him around if he agreed to a pay cut.
Other squad leaders like Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba have already agreed to cut their salaries but talks over Roberto's extension have dragged on, and that is thought to have contributed to the whistles from Barcelona fans as he was substituted during the recent 3-0 loss to Bayern Munich.
As noted by AS, Roberto was in tears in the dressing room after the game as he was 'hurt' by the reaction from fans who, in his eyes, did not appreciate the fact that he continues to give his all even if results aren't always positive.
Roberto wants to rebuild his relationship with supporters and hopes to do that by officially penning his two-year contract extension, which Marca state will be announced next week.
The 29-year-old has followed suit by agreeing to a salary cut to help the club cope with their financial crisis, and he hopes that supporters will appreciate that and end their hostile treatment of him in the near future.
A central midfielder by trade, Roberto has spent the last few seasons playing as a right-back and was given a more advanced role against Bayern, playing as a wing-back in a 3-5-2 system which president Joan Laporta is known to hate.
He was hauled off on the hour mark after an undeniably poor performance, but in truth, he was one of many Barcelona players to underperform in the game, in which Barcelona fell 3-0 and did not even manage a single shot on target.
Roberto's future appears to be sewn up, but Ronald Koeman's continuation at the club is in doubt, with officials recently meeting to discuss sacking him after such a poor performance.