Barcelona have agreed a new contract with home-grown midfielder Marc Bernal that will serve to raise the teenager’s release clause to an eye-watering amount.

Bernal, who only turned 17 in May, looked set to have a breakout season in 2024/25 – the like of which has previously been seen at such a young age by Pedri and Gavi.

But the emerging talent, having started each of Barcelona’s first three La Liga games, suffered an ACL rupture in only his third appearance against Rayo Vallecano that is likely to rule him for the rest of the current campaign – or certainly most of it.

Even so, Barcelona have moved to secure Bernal’s future.

Officially, he remains part of the Under-19 squad and the length of his contract hasn’t changed, still running until the summer of 2026 when his Under-19 status ends. But the deal includes the option for a further three years after that until 2029, as well as a new €500m (£417m) release clause.

Barca have been burnt by a release clause being triggered against their will in the past, when Paris Saint-Germain poached Neymar for a world record €222m in 2017. That figure was considered prohibitive at the time, but PSG proved that it wasn’t, landing the Brazilian at his peak.

Release clauses are mandatory in Spanish football but there are no rules on clubs setting them at silly amounts. Cristiano Ronaldo’s buyout fee at Real Madrid was €1bn from the beginning and was only reportedly cut when he was on the verge of leaving the club, aged 33, in 2018.

For Barcelona, €1bn release clauses have become standard for their top players. But Lionel Messi’s release clause never made it that high, peaking at €700m when he signed a new four-year contract in 2017 – less than a month before PSG snatched Neymar – which proved to be his last at Camp Nou.

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