Barcelona announce Messi deal

On the day when Barcelona legend Ronaldinho stated that Lionel Messi must stay at Barcelona, the Catalan club has reported that they have reached an agreement with the four times Ballon D’or winner over a new deal. Discussions over a new deal has been ongoing for weeks and finally an agreement has been struck with the forward. Messi’s current contract runs until 2018 with a release clause of €250M. Those details will remain the same according to reports but his salary will increase for €13M to €20M per year not including incentives.

This new deal has ended speculations surrounding the Argentine skipper’s future. He was linked to Manchester City and PSG in recent weeks after reports came out that the Blaugrana board was willing to put their star man up for sale. Messi later addressed the issue saying it was ‘crazy stuff’ to think that Barcelona would be willing to sell him.

This new deal will place the 26 year old forward as the highest paid footballer ahead of Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. The reigning Ballon D’or winner’s salary is reported to be between €18-€20M per year but Madrid did not confirm the the figures. Messi has scored 354 goals for Barcelona and is a mere seven goals away from becoming La Liga’s all time leading scorer. He will be hoping to repay the club for his new deal by defeating Atletico Madrid this weekend and crown Barcelona champions of Spain for 2013/2014

Yashiema Love
Senior Contributor
GIVEMESPORT Writing Academy.