Lionel Messi Agrees Four-year Contract Extension Worth £500,000 per week

Barcelona have broken the bank to keep talismanic forward Lionel Messi by announcing a new £500,000 per week contract renovation with a buy-out clause likely in the region of €300million (£264m).

The mouth-watering contract brings to an end months of nervousness among Barca faithful who had a hard time figuring out Messi’s next move ahead of his previous contract which expires in June 2018.

Following the new deal, Messi, who joined Barca as a 13-year-old, has now tied his future to the club until 2021, with the option of an extra year, Daily Mail writes.

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.