The Portuguese defender to extend his stay at Barcelona.
Barcelona have seemingly changed their minds with regards to Nelson Semedo who, throughout the start of the new year, had been linked with a move away from the club.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan side is apparently now ready to not only keep the right-back but to offer him a contract extension as well.
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The new contract would see Semedo stay with Barcelona until 2025 and would result not only in an increase in wages but his release clause as well.
Initially, he was one of the player’s on the club’s transfer list and was rumored as possibly being involved in a deal for Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez.
When that didn’t pan out, he then was linked in another swap deal with Manchester City that would have seen Joao Cancelo come the other way.
Negotiations on an extension were halted by his agent, Jorge Mendes, who claimed that his client had numerous offers from other teams so they were going to test the market.
Apparently, those offers were not as plentiful or serious as he first thought which is why the situation has gone from Semedo all but gone from the team to now close to signing a new contract.
The right-back getting more playing time under Quique Setien.
Semedo is one of the players who has benefited from the arrival of Quique Setien. He seems to have earned the manager’s trust and has taken over the right-back position.
Part of that had to do with the injury to Sergi Roberto that kept him out of action for a couple of weeks. However, since his return, Setien has preferred to play Roberto in midfield rather than in defense.
Semedo has put in decent performances since the restart and probably had his best half in their last match against Real Valladolid. He was getting in behind the defense on the right and his crosses were creating danger inside the penalty area.
Despite being at Barcelona for three years now, he still has games where his crossing leaves much to be desired as well as his understanding with the rest of the team. In other words, he still has work to do in an effort to become a suitable replacement for Dani Alves.
The talks with Mendes are advanced meaning that an announcement on a contract extension is imminent. The 26-year-old came over to Barcelona from Benfica back in the summer of 2017.