Barcelona on Monday admitted that Lionel Messi reached an agreement with the club and will renew his contract for five years. The striker would have accepted a 50% salary cut and decided to renew his contract.
Messi was a free agent after his contract at Barcelona expired on July 1st. But the 34-year-old has now agreed to stay on at Camp Nou for another five years, according to reports.
The Argentine ace understands that Barcelona is not going through a good financial moment and, therefore, wanted to be the first to set an example.
The situation is not definitive yet, which is why newspapers in Catalan treat the situation as a “principle of agreement”. The definition of details between the player and the club’s lawyers is the last standoff before the official stay.
Messi has previously expressed his desire to leave the club at the end of the last season after a lack progress on the pitch and a fallout with former president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
But Barcelona would still love to keep him after Joan Laporta returned as president in February. The Spaniard has once again asked for more ‘flexibility’ from La Liga over the current salary cap situation at Barcelona.
“We’d like more flexibility from La Liga if possible, like other leagues across the continent have done for teams. Then, we could sign some more players.” Laporta said.
“As for Messi, it’s going well. We’re trying to resolve the issues that need to be resolved. They’re important, but we’re getting on with this.” Laporta added.
So far, Messi has spent his whole career wih Barcelona since making his official debut in 2004. He has dominated the sport alongside Cristiano Ronaldo for more than a decade.
