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Catalan sports paper Sport claims that the renewal of Barcelona midfielder and Spanish youth international Sergio Busquets (20) will be closed soon.

Busquets, whose current contract expires at the end of the season, will sign a renewal that will link him to the club for the next five seasons.

A deal has principally been agreed upon (read more here) and now Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain and Josep Maria Orobitg, the agent of the player, will meet a last time to sort out the remaining details and to approve the final version of the contract. The renewal will probably be finalized before the end of this month.

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Busquets will sign a five-year contract that has a rather low fixed salary and high incentives based on criteria like the number of matches played.

A new meeting between both parties could be scheduled for next week. Asked about the progress made, Josep Maria Orobitg is quoted by the paper as saying an agreement is imminent: "We're close. With one meeting or two, we could wind it up."

British tabloid The Daily Mail meanwhile claims that English Premier League club Arsenal is ready to make a move for Busquets if the player would still fail to agree a new contract at Barcelona.

After seeing Mathieu Flamini and Alexander Hleb leave his club during the summer, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger is keen to strengthen his midfield and wouldn't doubt if given the chance to sign the Catalan midfielder, who has attracted the interest from several clubs in England and Italy (read more here).

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Spanish news agency EFE claims that the contract renewal of Barcelona midfielder and Spanish youth international Sergio Busquets (20) is closer after a new meeting yesterday between Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain and Josep Mario Orobitg, the agent of the player.

Barcelona would have offered Busquets, whose contract expires at the end of the current season, to renew until the summer of 2014.

While Barcelona officials confirmed to the agency that it was a "very positive" meeting, Orobitg said that a renewal deal could be reached soon: "The positions are coming closer. I think we'll need one more meeting before signing the deal."

In an interview with Catalan television channel TV3, Orobitg added that there's an agreement on the main issues: "Now it's just about some little details. Barcelona wants the player to stay and the player wants to continue."

Asked about the rumours on difficult renewal negotions of Barcelona defensive midfielder and Spanish youth international Sergio Busquets (20) (read more here), the player's agent Josep Maria Orobitg has denied in an interview with Italian football site Tuttomercatoweb that there are serious problems:

"Talking about difficulties with the renewal is not correct and does not correspond with the reality. We are still talking, for now there has only been one meeting, so to speak already about problems seems out of place. On the other hand, it is true that he's an interesting young player who, as his contract expires at the end of the season, could be signed for a very low price.

That's why he is followed by several Spanish, English and Italian clubs, although I won't give you any names. Because the talks with Barcelona are still ongoing, it wouldn't be right to give the names but I can assure you that I'm not involved in any type of negotiations with any of those clubs.

We're talking about a very young player but above all a player who has been created, so to say, by Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola, who is also represented by me. So I don't only think he will stay in Spain but I'm very optimistic about his continuation in Barcelona."

Asked about the renewal negotiations with Busquets, Barcelona president Joan Laporta said earlier this week at a press conference that he's also optimistic about a contract renewal: "The relations between the club and the player are excellent. He has made an incredible progress, something we thought could happen when we promoted him to the first team.

We're talking with his agent but we're also in contact with his father, a former player who is part of the technical staff of the club, and we know that his entourage thinks that Barcelona is the best club for him to keep making progress."

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona wants to close the renewals of Busquets and Xavi as soon as possible, preferably in the coming days, so the club can then start working on the cases of Márquez, Puyol and Eto'o.

Read more:
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Asked about the rumours linking Barcelona defensive midfielder and Spanish youth international Sergio Busquets (20) with a move to English Premier League club Arsenal (read more here), the player's agent Josep Maria Orobitg has denied the exit rumours in an interview with British sports site Setanta Sports, saying that the player is focused on securing a new deal with Barcelona:

"All the Arsenal talk is rubbish. The player is young, faithful to Barcelona, and has told me he will only listen to what Barcelona have to offer him. As a consequence we will not listen to other clubs. I keep on negotiating a new contract with them and hopefully we will reach an agreement soon."

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Spanish football site Joinfutbol claims that the rumours linking Barcelona Cadete A wing attacker and Spanish youth international Gerard Deulofeu (14) with several English Premier League clubs (read more here), has caused serious competition amongst agents to get the chance to represent the player.

Ginés Carvajal (picture), the agent of Real Madrid forward Raúl, and Josep Maria Orobitg, the agent of Barcelona manager Josep Guardiola, would be amongst the agents interested to represent the Catalan player.

Confronted with all the offers, the parents of Deulofeu would now have asked the agents how much they would be willing to pay to become the official representative of the player.

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Asked about the rumoured renewal of the contract of Barcelona defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets (20) (read more here), the player's agent Josep Maria Orobitg has said in an interview with Catalan radio station COM Ràdio that he expects a deal can be found soon:

"I'm sure we'll reach an agreement because the player is happy in Barcelona and isn't thinking about an exit. I'm waiting for the Barcelona officials to return from Argentina so we can start talking. If everything develops normally, the renewal could be announced soon.

It's true that three or four clubs have asked for him. One of them is a European top club. But he'll only leave Barcelona if the financial difference between offer and demand is very, very big. I repeat that I'm convinced that he will stay, also because his whole family lives here. The interested clubs are aware that it won't be possible to sign him if everything goes like planned."

Madrid sports tabloid Marca claims that Italian club AC Milan is one of the clubs that have asked the agent for the situation of Busquets, whose contract expires next summer. Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain would meet with Orobitg this week (read more here).

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid, Valencia, Chelsea, Manchester United and AC Milan have contacted Busquets' agent to ask him about a possible transfer. Busquets nevertheless wishes to renew and the club will offer Busquets a contract extension until 2014, with his salary depending on his performances.

Asked about what would happen if Real Madrid would want to sign him, former Barcelona goalkeeper Carles Busquets, the father of the player, said in an interview with Madrid sports tabloid As that Barcelona is the first option of his son: "You can never say never but Segio is a true culé and his dream since he was a child has always been to play for Barcelona.

Although he's playing well for many years, I didn't see all this coming. I'm very proud, I hope he'll get rewarded for his work. If possible, I give him some advice, but not a lot. He has always been very mature and he has clear ideas about everything. He has worked hard to get there.

I never got the chance to see him as a goalkeeper because he always wanted to score goals! As a child, he was a striker, later on he moved to midfield. In the world of football, it's hard to predict if one will get far or not. He should be aware that he's just starting. He still has a long way to go, but if you work hard, everything is possible."

Read more:
Busquets wants to renew as soon as possible
First international call-up for Busquets
Busquets will be offered to renew until 2014

Catalan sports paper El Mundo Deportivo claims that Barcelona defensive midfielder and Spanish youth international Sergio Busquets (20) will be offered a contract renewal until the year 2014.

Catalan sports paper Sport claims that Barcelona is working on the renewal of Barcelona defensive midfielder and Spanish youth international Sergio Busquets (20), whose contract expires at the end of this season.

It is expected that Barcelona sports director Txiki Begiristain and Barcelona sports vice president Rafael Yuste will meet with players' agent Josep Maria Orobitg, who has recently been appointed as representative of Busquets (read more here), during the next two weeks to start the renewal negotiations.

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Contract renewal for Busquets coming up

Barcelona Radio station RKB claims that Barcelona wants to renew the contract of Barcelona Atlètic defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets (20), who seems to be permanently promoted to the first team after he started the two last Liga games.