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Barcelona youngster Marc Jurado has turned down the chance to extend his contract with the club and will join Manchester United this summer, sources have told ESPN.
Jurado became eligible for a professional contract in April when he turned 16 but he has turned down Barca’s offer.
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The Spanish champions proposed a three-year deal, worth €60,000 annually in the first year rising to €100,000 by the third year of the contract, in addition to a €200,000 bonus if he made his debut for the B team in that time.
However, Jurado, a right-back who spent this season with the club’s U16 team, has instead accepted an offer to move to Premier League side United.
As his non-professional terms with Barca expire this summer, the English club will only have to pay a small amount of compensation in development rights, which one source says is likely to be less than €200,000.
The youth football season has been brought to an end in Spain due to the coronavirus pandemic, so Jurado has already played his last game for Barca.
Barca have lost academy players to Manchester City previously, with Eric Garcia and Adria Bernabe both leaving for the Etihad. United, meanwhile, signed Arnau Puigmal from Barcelona-based Espanyol two years ago.
Jurado, therefore, becomes the first player to leave La Masia for United before making a first-team appearance for Barca since Gerard Pique, who headed to Manchester in 2004 aged 17.
A source told ESPN that Barca are disappointed to lose the defender and are especially upset with the way his agent, Carlos Lacueva, the son of one of the club’s former directors, handled the situation.
However, they remain hopeful of tying down some of the academy’s other brightest talents. Attackers Pablo Paez — better known as Gavi — and Ilias Akhomach, who are both part of the same U16 team as Jurado, are expected to sign professional deals at Camp Nou.