Barcelona to soon begin renewal of €5 million rated La Masia product

Flashback to November 2020, Barcelona’s Gerard Pique suffered a grade 3 sprain and a partial anterior cruciate ligament injury on his right knee following a collision with Angel Correa in the game against Atletico Madrid, ruling him out for months. If the embarrassing run of games that pushed Barcelona 13th in the table was not worrying enough, the team now had to deal with a long term injury to key defender in the backline, stinging Barca’s hopes of reviving themselves in La Liga.

Samuel Umtiti was already on the treatment table leaving Clement Lenglet and Ronald Araujo as fit centre back options. The mental scars of Barcelona’s 8-2 thrashing against Bayern Munich had broken Lenglet and he still struggles to cope on the field. Heavily exposed at the back due to lack of depth, Ronald Koeman turned to the temple that had blessed Barcelona with Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and some of the other greatest players to grace the game.

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Koeman put his trust in La Masia product Oscar Mingueza. The Spaniard announced himself at the European stage with an astute and sturdy performance on his Barcelona debut against Dynamo Kyiv, helping Barca keep a clean sheet.

In three months, Oscar Mingueza helped steady the quivering Barca defence, emerging as a highly promising gem, making fans wonder where he was all this time. While many rallied for panic buy in the January transfer market, with each passing game, Mingueza was successful in dispelling the notion.

Oscar Mingueza has been excellent for Barcelona

Playing over 2200 minutes this season, Mingueza has showcased unwavering confidence on the ball and bravery on the ball. The 21-year-old averages 73 passes per 90 minutes with a pass completion rate of over 91%. Defensively, Mingueza has won 29 tackles out of 43 attempts. The centre back also has 18 interceptions and sits 5th in the table for the percentage of dribblers tackled.

Owing to his spectacular performances, Barcelona are hoping to extend his stay at Camp Nou. Mingueza’s current deal runs till summer 2021 but that shouldn’t be a worry for the club as the Blaugrana has a unilateral clause of extending his contract by two years.

The clause will expire on 31st May 2021 but as per Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona want to trigger the extension clause to keep Mingueza and ward off interest from other clubs such as Real Betis and Sampdoria.

Joan Laporta took over the role of FC Barcelona president on 17th March and while majority attention will be taken by Lionel Messi’s stay at Barcelona, the renewal of Mingueza will surely be a matter of urgent attention as well.

Upon return of Pique, will Mingueza continue to get regular game time?