After failing to reach an agreement on a new contract, Munir is unlikely to play again for Barcelona.
Munir El Haddadi’s time at Barcelona appears to be over. After not coming to terms on a contract extension, Barcelona’s higher-ups have decided to freeze the player out completely. Manager Ernesto Valverde confirmed as such is his press conference prior to their Copa del Rey match against Levante.
Valverde said, “The club have made their decision and the player has as well. What we want is a solution as soon as possible and if it’s in this transfer window, the better.”
He went on to say that he has nothing against Munir adding that he’s another player on the squad, that he’s always trained well, and performed well when called upon.
It does appear that the club are punishing the player for not agreeing to a new contract. It’s a trend we’re seeing with Barcelona signing Todibo and close to signing Rabiot, both players who are also not playing with their respective teams because they failed to agree to a contract extension.
Munir’s agent has hit out at both the club and the manager.
His agent said, “The week against Celta Vigo, Munir got the news from the manager that he was not going to call him up until he decided to renew and he is very disappointed. The player is very grateful to Barcelona and is absolutely committed to the club because he knows he has a contract until June, but the big kick in the teeth is that after the promises the sporting directors made and the manager at the start of the year, they have not relied on him.”
His agent did reveal that there were a number of clubs interested in Munir with one of those clubs being Sevilla.
When asked about his club’s potential interest, Sevilla’s sporting director, Joaquin Caparros did not deny it.
“Munir is an option. He’s a young forward that fits our profile, he’s the type of player that we’re obliged to look at,” said Caparros.
It’s hard not to feel some sort of sympathy for Munir because he was brought back to Barcelona from a rather successful loan spell at Alaves with the intention of earning more playing time. Once they loaned, and later sold, Paco Alcacer to Dortmund, it seemed like he would finally get his chance. But it hasn’t panned out that way and he’s only featured in cup matches and in the latter stages of league games.
It’s also hypocritical of the club to punish Munir yet sign, or be linked to, players that are doing the same thing. From one perspective, the player isn’t doing anything wrong. He has a contract and he’s willing to honor what’s left of it and once it’s done, he’s set on looking for greener pastures. Barcelona come off as upset that they’re not going to get anything for him once he leaves.
Like Valverde said, it’s better for both sides if Munir’s exit from the club comes during the winter transfer window so he can get his career back on track. As it stands, Barcelona already released their squad list for their cup game and, as expected, he wasn’t on it.
Whether he leaves during the window or for free at the end of the season, it will be a rather sad end to his Barcelona career as it started out so promising.