Barcelona president Joan Laporta said that teenage talent Dro Fernandez’s decision to leave the club for a planned move to Paris Saint-Germain, despite having previously agreed a new deal with the Catalan giants, was “unpleasant”.
Central midfielder Dro, 18, is poised to join French giants PSG, with Spanish media reporting that they will pay Barca slightly more than his six-million-euro ($7 million) release clause as a goodwill gesture.
“We will speak when it’s all done, it has been an unpleasant situation,” Laporta told Catalunya Radio late on Sunday.
“It came as a surprise because we had agreed on a different solution for when he turned 18,” continued the Barca chief.
“Surprisingly, his representative told us he couldn’t follow through on what we’d agreed to.”
Laporta indicated that Barca would be able to “change the situation as it was presented” to them, seemingly referring to receiving up to 8.5 million euros for Dro from PSG, rather than the figure stipulated in his release clause.
Dro, who is from Galicia in Spain’s northwest, joined Barcelona’s La Masia youth academy, considered the best in the world, in 2022 and has since made eight appearances for the club.
Earlier in January, Barca coach Hansi Flick showed his disappointment at Dro’s impending departure.
“What I want to say to the young players from La Masia, is we are Barca and one of the best teams in the world,” said the German coach, who handed Dro his debut in September 2025.
“We give them the opportunity to train with us, to grow, every day, with the best players in the world. We give them the opportunity, we give them the support, believe in them, the confidence.
“If you want to play for Barca, then (do it) 100 percent with your whole heart. This is what I want to say to everyone who is now with us, or in the future with us, this must be 100 percent.
“These colours, you have to live for them, this is what I want to see. All the others I don’t want, this is what I can say.”
AFP
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