FC Barcelona sent a number of players on loan last season. While some players, like Ansu Fati, have gone to other leagues where there is no chance of them coming up against their parent side, this is not the case with other on-loan players.
Three of the players that have gone on loan to La Liga sides are Eric Garcia, Pablo Torre, and Julian Araujo. Eric Garcia joined Girona on loan on the last day of the summer transfer window, while Pablo Torre had already joined the same club previously. Julian Araujo will play this season on loan at UD Las Palmas.
Fear clauses for Garcia and Torre
As Mundo Deportivo reports, the case of these two players is particular in one aspect, i.e., they both have a fear clause inserted in their contracts. Thus, neither of the two players can play whenever Girona face Barcelona this season.
While having such fear clauses inserted in a player’s contract is a controversial act, Barcelona, or any other club, has full liberty to put such clauses in any of their player’s contracts with mutual consent. The Catalans are particularly justified in these cases as Girona did not pay any loan fee for these players.
Barcelona’s history with fear clauses
Last season, Barcelona also had this clause entered into the contracts for Nico and Abde with Valencia and Osasuna respectively. If these two clubs fielded one of Nico or Abde against Barcelona, they were bound to pay a fine of €300,000 to Barcelona. This is also now the case with Eric Garcia and Pablo Torre.
Historically, Barcelona have not used fear clauses, and it was only in 2021-22 when Barcelona first used this clause.
On the other hand, Real Madrid have been using these clauses since 2004. However, the policies of these two clubs have reversed recently, as Barcelona have been using this clause more since Xavi’s arrival, while Real Madrid are not using it anymore.
The Catalans themselves have a player on loan from another La Liga side, i.e., Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid. However, he does not have such a clause in his contract, and would be available to play when Barcelona face Atletico.
