The four teams that are trying for Salma Paralluelo, with one foot out of Barça

BarcelonaThe future of Salma Paralluelo is the big issue this summer at Barça. The Aragonese winger is very happy at the Catalan club, but she has strong offers from abroad, where the economic proposals are higher than those offered by the Blaugrana entity. As ARA has been able to find out, Olympique de Lyon, London City, Arsenal and PSG have shown interest in the footballer, whose contract ends on June 30 and who would arrive as a free agent.

Salma arrived at Barça in the summer of 2022 from Villarreal, at which point she opted for football over athletics, the other sport she had practiced until then. The Aragonese player signed a long contract —for four seasons— with the aim of growing and consolidating herself in elite football. Over these four years, ups and downs have alternated. From being third in the 2023 and 2024 Ballon d'Or, to suffering several injuries that have kept her out of action for many stretches of the season.

People who have worked with the player explain to ARA that Barça has not known how to take advantage of Salma's virtues, who would need to do more specific training, as for many years she has combined football with athletics. During Pere Romeu's first season, Salma missed the first four months of competition to do this individual work.

Despite suffering a partial tear of the internal lateral ligament of the left knee last October —which left her sidelined for three months—, her good performance in the final stretch of the season has allowed her quality to shine through. The Aragonese player found the net in the return leg of the Champions League semifinals against Bayern and started in the Oslo final, where she contributed to the victory with a brace. Performances that have opened many doors for her. In total, she has played 131 matches and scored 75 goals for Barça.

After months of negotiations, if nothing changes, Salma will pack her bags and try her luck abroad for the first time in her professional career. If confirmed, it would be the fourth confirmed departure of the summer from Barça, which has also seen Alexia Putellas, Mapi León, and Ona Batlle not renew their contracts. All four played from the start in the Champions League final less than a month ago.

On the other hand, both Graham Hansen and Marta Torrejón could renew in the coming hours. Both have only spoken with Barça and their idea is to continue at the Johan Cruyff stadium, as this newspaper has been able to learn. In this way, all pending matters regarding departures from recent months would be closed.

Future investments

Meanwhile, Barça is working to replace these players with young players who have room for growth. Last March, the Barça club made the signing of Liv Pennock (2008) official. The right winger arrives from Twente and from the Netherlands they compare her to Salma Paralluelo. Both are players who stand out for their speed and have a common past: they have competed in athletics.

But the story doesn't end here: in the last few hours, the name of Lotta Wrede (2008), an winger for Hamburg who met with members of the sporting management, has also been mentioned, as reported by Mundo Deportivo. Wrede is a player who can play on both sides. “She has great ease in dribbling, quickly changing the pace of the game and identifying open spaces. After training, she always looked for another player to practice one-on-one drills,” explains Marwin Bolz to ARA, who managed her at Hamburg and currently coaches Braga. 

“He will need some adaptation time because he comes from a very different context. In Germany this season he fought to stay up,” points out the coach. In any case, they are two reinforcements that emphasize the line that the sporting director is following in this summer market. Young players, unknown to the general public, but with projection to make a place for themselves in Barça's first team. Whether they are good market operations or not, only time will tell.