Lionel Messi has reached a verbal agreement with Barcelona on a five-year contract extension in a deal where his salary will be decreased by 50 per cent.
As reported by Sky Sports, the six-time Ballon d’Or winner had been a free agent from July 1 in his previous contract with the Catalans as nothing had been agreed on a renewal.
This new agreement will see Messi stay at Barcelona until he’s 39 when the contract expires, meaning he would have played 26 years with the La Liga giants.
In August 2020, Messi has sparked dramatic speculation surrounding his future at the club when officially informing Barcelona that he wanted a clause in his then contract to be activated.
However, Barcelona’s then president Josep Maria Bartomeu and La Liga’s Javier Tebas halted any move from happening. This clause could only have been activated by June 10, meaning that any interested clubs would have to pay his full €700m release clause.
Sky Sports report that Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain had been interested whilst stating that Messi is open to playing in the MLS in the future.
On Saturday, Messi clinched his first major international title with Argentina, defeating Brazil 1-0 in the Copa America final played in Rio de Janeiro.