By Akinwale Kasali
Newly crowned Copa America winning Captain of Argentina, Lionel Messi, has agreed to extend his contract with Catalan giants, Barcelona Football Club of Spain.
For months now, the future of the Six-time World Footballer of the Year has been in a subject of speculation, following his intention to quit the Spanish club side and move to elsewhere.
Last season, Messi tried forcing a move out of Barcelona to reunite with former Coach, Pep Guardiola, but the move was stopped through the intervention of World Soccer Governing Body, FIFA.
There is, however, good news for the Spanish side following the agreement reached by the club with the prolific and mercurial player, to a pay cut. He intends to extend his contract by five years.
According to ESPN, Messi accepted a significant wage reduction to prolong his stay.
Messi was a free agent after his contract at Barca expired, and he had courted interest from Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City since first revealing a desire to end his 20-year relationship with Barca last summer.
The 34-year-old’s previous contract, which was worth over €500 million ($594m) over four years, expired at the stroke of midnight on June 30.
The five-year extension of Messi at Barcelona is said to be influenced by the return of Joan Laporta as Barcelona President in March. Messi grew more open to staying at Camp Nou. An official announcement is expected in the coming days.
Laporta had hoped to finalise an agreement before Messi’s previous terms expired. Barca’s financial problems made that impossible, though, with their gross debt over €1 billion. Cutbacks have been essential, in terms of transferring players out, reducing the wage bill and getting Messi to accept a lower salary.
La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned Barca they will not be allowed to register Messi’s new deal if they are unable to reduce spending to comply with the league’s Financial Fair Play rules. Barca’s spending limit has been reduced from over €600m to €347m since the coronavirus pandemic, with further reductions expected to be imposed for the upcoming season.
Therefore, to register Messi’s new deal, in addition to new signings Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and Emerson Royal, Barca need to continue reducing the wage bill and moving players on. With that in mind, sources at the club refuse to rule out the departure of Antoine Griezmann, a €120m signing in 2019.
The opening 2021/2022 season of the Spanish League will kick off on August 15, with Barcelona taking on Real Sociedad in Camp Nou Stadium, home of Barcelona.
