The NINE Barcelona players out of contract in 2026 and what their futures hold

Barcelona have been working hard to tie down some of their top talent recently, but they have a lot more to do as decision time approaches for several of their players.

While a plethora of Barcelona players have already signed new contracts in 2025, there are nine players in Hansi Flick’s current squad who are in the final year of their contracts.

After having to pay careful attention to their wage bill in recent years, Barcelona will have to pick which players to renew and which to sell.

Here, TEAMtalk takes a closer look at the players who are due to be out of contract at the end of next season and what the future may hold.

Marc Bernal

• Appearances last season: 3
• Goals last season: 0
• Weekly salary: €6,154
• Annual salary: €320,000

2024-25 should have been a breakout season for Marc Bernal, a La Masia graduate who made his debut in August but suffered an ACL injury just 10 days later.

Barcelona have big faith in the 17-year-old midfielder for the future, though, after inserting a €500m release clause into his contract.

They also have an option to renew his contract for three more years after he turned 18 in May.

Andreas Christensen

• Appearances last season: 6
• Goals last season: 0
• Weekly salary: €173,077
• Annual salary: €9m

Christensen was a savvy free signing for Barcelona after he left Chelsea in 2022. The defender earned more than 70 appearances across his first two seasons in Catalonia.

However, last season he was largely inactive due to an Achilles injury. He finally returned in May, not giving him a large window of opportunity to showcase his best form again to rescue his Barca career.

Now 29, Christensen currently earns €9m per season in wages from Barcelona. While that doesn’t put him in their top 10 earners, it is a sizeable salary that they could clear off the books.

For a few months, the feeling has been that Barcelona won’t offer Christensen a new contract. The Denmark international could have plenty of suitors, though, so might be someone to cash in on.

Frenkie de Jong

• Appearances last season: 46
• Goals last season: 2
• Weekly salary: €365,385
• Annual salary: €19m

De Jong’s eye-watering salary of €19m a year has made him a candidate for Barcelona to sell for a number of years, despite his high technical quality on the pitch.

The Dutch midfielder arrived from Ajax in 2019, but was heavily linked with Manchester United in 2022. Failing to be convinced, De Jong remains on Barcelona’s books to this day.

He is now 28 and has more than 200 appearances for Barcelona to his name, having recently undergone a resurgence under Flick.

Naturally, there will be doubts about his future again, with Barcelona having waited until the end of the season to address his future. But reports have claimed De Jong would be willing to stay at Barcelona.

He would likely have to accept a pay cut for a new contract to be realistic, so this saga could rumble on for a while, but De Jong still has some of his prime years ahead of him if he can keep up his fitness.

Hector Fort

• Appearances last season: 20
• Goals last season: 0
• Weekly salary: €16,154
• Annual salary: €840,000

Barcelona-born Fort made his senior debut in the 2023-24 season and had some more chances last term as a full-back, mainly on his preferred right-hand side.

The 18-year-old was expected to have his deal renewed until 2029 after his most recent birthday, so it seems he will be sticking around for the long term and aiming to fulfil his potential.

Eric Garcia

• Appearances last season: 45
• Goals last season: 5
• Weekly salary: €115,385
• Annual salary: €6m

Barcelona reintegrated Garcia for the 2024-25 season after he spent the prior campaign on loan at Girona, proving to be an important part of the side that broke into the Champions League places.

He hasn’t been a regular starter since his return to Barcelona – being affected by some injury issues like Christensen, but not as seriously – and so his future could come into question again this summer.

Garcia is still only 24, so does have time to prove himself, but the former Manchester City defender might have to realise his potential away from Barcelona.

There have been whispers of Girona wanting him back, so if Barcelona do sell their academy graduate, they could cross paths with him again in LaLiga.

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Robert Lewandowski

• Appearances last season: 52
• Goals last season: 42
• Weekly salary: €400,577
• Annual salary: €20.83m

An absolute force of nature, Lewandowski achieved his best goalscoring season at Barcelona in 2024-25 with 42 goals from 52 games.

The 36-year-old striker played in enough games last season for his contract to extend into next season too, while there have been talks with the club over the terms of his stay.

Due to his age, Barcelona will have to think about finding a long-term successor for the former Bayern Munich hitman, which might be a dilemma due to how in-form he still is.

But Lewandowski is settled in Barcelona and wants to stay at the club for as long as possible. And it’s hard to argue with his numbers.

Like De Jong, Lewandowski may have to reduce his salary at some point for it to be viable for Barcelona to keep him, but if you have a striker scoring more than 100 goals within three seasons for you, why would you let them go?

Inigo Martinez

• Appearances last season: 46
• Goals last season: 3
• Weekly salary: €174,231
• Annual salary: €9.06m

Martinez agreed to a new contract with Barcelona in March, which extended his commitment to the club until 2026.

The defender joined from Athletic Club in 2023, by which point he was already 32 years old.

He has impressed with his seniority and will remain an option for Flick to consider using in the 2025-26 campaign.

Inaki Pena

• Appearances last season: 23
• Goals last season: 25
• Weekly salary: €62,500
• Annual salary: €3.25m

2024-25 was a season of mixed emotions for Inaki Pena and it may turn out to be his last at Barcelona.

Due to Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s injury, Pena began the season as Barcelona’s first choice goalkeeper – an opportunity he had been patiently awaiting.

But emergency signing Wojciech Szczesny displaced him and Pena has fallen out of favour with Flick.

Pena isn’t believed to be too happy about his status, especially considering Szczesny has renewed his contract and Joan Garcia has arrived from Espanyol, and after turning 26 in March, it could be time for him to go and experience more regular action elsewhere.

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Oriol Romeu

• Appearances last season: 31 (on loan at Girona)
• Goals last season: 7
• Weekly salary: €67,308
• Annual salary: €3.5m

Romeu’s form at Girona in the 2022-23 season earned him a return to Barcelona, 12 years after his departure.

However, things didn’t pan out for the midfielder back in Blaugrana colours and he was sent back to Girona on loan for the 2024-25 campaign.

The prospects of the 33-year-old returning to Barcelona again as a player of any major significance look slim.