Barcelona are reportedly looking to disappoint Manchester United by handing one of their talented young defenders a lucrative new contract.

The current campaign has turned into a real breakthrough one for top 17-year-old centre-back talent Pau Cubarsi, who has quickly become a cornerstone of Xavi’s backline thanks to a string of impressive performances in Catalonia.

Cubarsi was on the fringes of the first team during the first half the campaign but, after providing an assist on his debut against Unionistas in the Copa del Rey back in January, he has taken his game up to a new level.

The defender has now made 18 first-team appearances for Barca, starting 12 of those games in LaLiga and also playing his part in seven clean sheets.

Cubarsi also played the full 90 minutes in both legs of Barcelona’s Champions League quarter-final exit to PSG and won his first two senior caps for Spain against Brazil and Colombia last month.

His incredible rise this season has, unsurprisingly, led to plenty of speculation over his future, with United rumoured to have taken a firm interest in trying to secure his signature this summer.

Cubarsi’s current deal only runs until the summer of 2026, which is due to the fact that his age limited him from being contracted for any longer than three years.

The teenager also has a release clause reportedly set at just €15million (£12.7m), which is a no-brainer fee for a youngster with that much talent.

Barca ready to tie Cubarsi down to bumper new deal

But due to his excellence under Xavi, who recently made a U-turn to commit his own future to the club beyond the summer, AS reports that Barcelona are now planning to reward Cubarsi with a new long-running deal that would see his salary increase by the year. That deal, however, cannot be signed until the defender turns 18 in January.

The report adds that Cubarsi’s renewal would be a five-year agreement with a starting annual salary of €4m (£3.4m), which would increase per year to €12m (£10.2m) per annum for the final year of the deal.

That huge offer is potentially bad news for United, especially as it’s also expected to have a whopping release clause of at least €500m (£423.2m) inserted for one of Barca’s shining lights for the future.