The club captain looked assured of a new contract when Xavi Hernandez was still in charge of the team, but the arrival of Hansi Flick seems to have changed things.
Furthermore, given the limited Financial Fair Play margin that Barcelona have, there are no guarantees that Roberto can be registered even if he renews.
As such, it has been suggested that Barcelona are planning to introduce a special clause in the renewal agreement which would allow them to terminate Roberto without any compensation if they are unable to register him.
Girona interested, but Roberto wants to wait
Amidst this, Mundo Deportivo reports that Barcelona’s local rivals, Girona, are interested in signing Sergi Roberto for free in the summer transfer window.
Despite that, the 32-year-old La Masia graduate is prepared to wait for Barça until the last moment, which jeopardises any chances of joining the other Catalan club.
As per the report, Roberto has been made aware by the Blaugrana that his continuity was subject to the order of squad registration established by Flick and Deco.
As things stand, the registrations of Gavi, Alejandro Balde, Iñigo Martínez, Vitor Roque, Pau Cubarsí and Hèctor Fort seem to take precedence, casting doubts over Roberto’s continuity.
Although it seems to be an elegant invitation from the club to leave, the versatile midfielder wants to wait, and that is detrimental to his signing for other teams, such as Girona.
Michel’s team have shown an interest in signing Roberto since April itself, but the Barcelona star’s insistence on waiting could hurt his chances of securing a move to Girona as they are not willing to wait until August to finalise their squad.
