Barcelona miss out on financial windfall as former defender’s Celta exit becomes inevitable | OneFootball

Barcelona are set to miss out on potential income from Oscar Mingueza, with the former La Masia defender expected to leave Celta Vigo as a free agent.

Mingueza’s contract expires on 30 June and, unless there is a late twist, he will end his four-year spell at Balaidos without Celta receiving a transfer fee.

According to SPORT, Barcelona still held 50 percent of the rights to a future sale, a clause included when Mingueza left Camp Nou for Celta in 2022.

That clause will now become useless once his contract expires, meaning Barca will not receive any money from his next move.

A frustrating missed opportunity

For Barcelona, this is a small but annoying financial setback. The club had hoped Celta might sell Mingueza before his deal ran out, especially after strong interest appeared in recent windows.

Juventus reportedly came close in January with an offer of around €20 million, but Celta rejected it because they wanted his release clause. With Barca owning half of the rights, the Galician club would only have kept around €10 million.

Now both Celta and Barca have lost the chance to earn from a transfer.

The Spaniard broke through into Barca’s first team under former manager Ronald Koeman and made an impression early on.

The arrival of Xavi Hernandez saw him being pushed to the periphery though and the Spanish tactician chose to sell him when the opportunity arrived in the market. Leaving the Catalan club ended up being an excellent decision for him though.

Mingueza has rebuilt his career impressively in Vigo. He played nearly 3,000 minutes last season across 47 matches, contributing one goal and six assists, while showing his value as a centre-back, full-back, and wing-back.

That versatility explains why clubs in Serie A, the Premier League, and Turkey have been linked with him.

From a Barca perspective, the frustration is obvious. This was exactly the kind of future-sale clause that should have produced extra income.