Barcelona planning for defender stay in spite of ACL injury diagnosis

In January, Barcelona completed the signing of young Uruguayan defender Patricio Pacifico, who joined on loan from Defensor Sporting. The 20-year-old left-back has impressed since arriving in Catalonia, which led to him having many chances to remain at the club on a permanent basis – but most of those have evaporated in the last week.

Last weekend, Pacifico suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament during a match with Barca Atletic, which is set to rule him out for the next 8-9 months. It also threw his Barcelona future into doubt, given that club officials would understandably be concerned about permanently signing a player that has suffered a long-term injury.

However, Barcelona have moved to position themselves to retain Pacifico’s services for at least one more season. According to MD, talks have taken place with Defensor Sporting regarding a possible loan extension, which would give the youngster another chance to seal a permanent contract once he returns to action.

Decision will be made before end of this season

Barcelona are hoping to have the situation resolved before the end of the season. They are keen to keep Pacifico under the care of their medical department during the arduous recovery process, which a number of their players have been exposed to in recent years, including Gavi and Andreas Christensen.

If sporting director Deco manages to reach a loan extension agreement with Defensor Sporting, which shouldn’t be too difficult, it would give Pacifico many chances to secure a permanent stay. He is projected to return to action at the start of 2027, meaning that he would have the entire second half of next season to convince club officials that he deserves to stick around in Catalonia.

In the meantime, Pacifico is waiting to undergo surgery, which he cannot yet have due to the sweeling in his knee having not yet gone down.