FC Barcelona Will Announce Important Contract Renewal In Coming Days

FC Barcelona will finalize an important contract renewal ‘in the coming days’ according to Mundo Deportivo.

Rafa Marquez, known as El Kaiser in his playing days, is already a club legend for the vital role he played in the club’s second Champions League win against Arsenal in 2006, and for being an important squad member during Pep Guardiola’s sextuple triumphs three years later.

Retiring at Atlas in his homeland Mexico in 2018, he made the switch to management in 2021 with Alcala before taking the hotseat of Barca’s reserve outfit – formerly known as the B team yet now referred to as Barcelona Atletic – last year.

Though Barca fell to bitter rivals Real Madrid’s Castilla team in the semi-finals of the promotion playoffs at the weekend, Mundo Deportivo reports that there is satisfaction from president Joan Laporta and the board regarding how well Marquez has worked with Barca Atletic.

As both parties are willing to move forward together, signing a one-year extension should be a mere formality and will be announced in the coming days ahead of a well-earned break.

Marquez, who has offers from elsewhere but wants to continue in his role with the reserves, would then return to the office in July before the official season starts on the weekend of August 19 and 20.

The extension is important not just for the reserves but also for Xavi Hernandez’s first team. As former teammates, Xavi and Marquez presumably have a strong friendship and understanding meaning there is trust between them.

Marquez can inform Xavi about which players deserve to make the huge leap from Atletic to his La Liga-challenging squad, while Marquez is able to provide regular updates on the progress of those Xavi is already familiar with and has previously picked including Lamine Yamal and Pablo Torre.

Though this won’t be any time soon, Marquez is also tipped to make a similar transition in the future and could one day take the lead role in the dugout once Xavi’s tenure has ended.

At present, Xavi is currently in talks to extend his own contract which is set to expire in June 2024.