In the last few years, there has developed a clear rivalry between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint Germain, which is limited not only to the pitch, but manifests itself more often in the transfer market.
This has been the case since Barcelona tried to pursue the PSG midfielder, Marco Verratti, but PSG drew the first blood by paying the release clause of Neymar and putting a serious dent in a thriving Barcelona team. Last year, the Parisians also poached Ousmane Dembele from the Catalan club.
Furthermore, the Parisians have attempted to sign the new Blaugrana superstar Lamine Yamal. They have already had a €200 million offer for him rejected and are now planning to submit a €250 million offer.
But Lamine Yamal is not the only member of the current Barcelona team that the Parisians were interested in recently. According to Mundo Deportivo, the PSG Sporting Director, Luis Campos, was also following the defender Pau Cubarsi before Barcelona renewed his contract and ensured his presence in the Catalan club for the next few years.
Before this renewal, Cubarsi had a release clause of only €10 million, and activating this clause could have made such a transfer one of the best bargains for any club. Campos tried achieving this for PSG, but the defender’s desire to stay and succeed at Barcelona led him to extend his contract at the Catalan club, and spurn the advances of the Parisians.
Under this new contract, which is set to remain in place till 2027, Cubarsi now has a release clause of €500 million. Barcelona can now be confident that this new contract will scare away any more potential suitors for the youngster, especially those as committed and threatening as PSG, who have been one of the most disruptive forces in the European football market in the last few years.
