Barcelona to tear up Champions League winner's contract as agreement reached

Barcelona and Oriol Romeu are set to part ways 10 months early in order to allow the La Liga champions to register players in their squad. The midfielder, in his second spell with the club, has agreed to terminate his contract as the Catalan giants attempt to get a number of their stars off the books.

Romeu, 33, returned to the club in 2023, more than a decade after first leaving the side for whom he made his senior bow. The Spaniard featured 37 times in his first season with the club before joining Girona on loan last year.

And the time has come for the parties to go their separate ways once again. An agreement was initially made to see the veteran's exit but was put on hold until Romeu could find a new club — now his departure is imminent.

The former Southampton ace, who was in Chelsea's Champions League winning squad in 2012, did not train with his Barcelona teammates on Wednesday, per Marca, with his expected exit coming on Thursday. And there are more departures to come.

Inaki Pena and Marc Casado are among the candidates to leave in the coming days. The former could renew his contract before heading out n loan.

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Romeu's termination will see Barca able to register another player in their squad. By freeing up their wage bill and being able to comply withLa Liga's financial rules, Hansi Flick will be able to push for another player.

Wojciech Szczesny was expected to be the figure to come into the squad. But reports in Spain suggest the coaching setup is now advocating for Gerard Martin to be registered due to his versatility.

Joan Garcia and Marcus Rashford only saw their situations resolved last weekend, as the Manchester United loanee made his debut against RCD Mallorca from the bench. Barcelona have been under pressure with the registrations after spending more on buying players and salaries than they made in revenue last term.

Last season, Dani Olmo missed the first half of the campaign after not being able to be registered in time in similar circumstances. Speaking last week Flick expressed his frustration.

"For me, the situation, you can imagine I'm not happy about that. But I know the situation and I believe in the club," he said.

"We will focus on what we can change and what is in our hands. The other things, I believe in the club."

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