Argentine star, Lionel Messi has agreed to a four-year £500,000 per week contract extension which will keep him at Barcelona until the summer of 2021.
Spanish newspaper Marca have reported that the new contract contains a release clause of €300m.
A statement released on the club’s official website said: “FC Barcelona and Leo Messi have agreed on a contract renewal that will keep the Argentinian at the club until June 30th, 2021. The deal will be signed in the coming weeks when Messi returns to the team for pre-season training.”
The statement added: “The Club is very happy with both the renewal and the commitment of Messi, the best player in history, who has played his full professional career at Barça and has led the team to an era of extraordinary success, the likes of which has never been seen in world football.”
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Leo Messi will remain at @FCBarcelona until 2021.#Messi2021 pic.twitter.com/Ee0KZIse59— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) July 5, 2017
The five-time ballon d’Or winner had been linked to the Premier League after last year’s ruling on his tax evasion case, but Barca pulled out all the stops to keep hold of their greatest-ever player.
Messi has won eight league titles, four Champions League and four Copa del Rey cups.
Messi has also won the Ballon d’Or, France Football’s coveted award for the world’s best footballer, on five occasions.
Messi recently tied the knot with long-term partner Antonella Roccuzzo shortly after his 30th birthday, and will return from honeymoon in the Caribbean next week to ink the deal that puts his new salary at £26.4m per season after tax.
The Argentine maestro will be 34 in June 2022 when the deal ends. If he takes up the extra year, he will be able to top-up his earnings by around 20 per cent in total if he meets various targets such as winning La Liga, the Champions League and Ballon d’Or.
