Lionel Messi has ended months of speculation about his future by signing a new four-year contract at Barcelona worth €558,000 a week, extending his stay at the Nou Camp until 2021.
Barca announced the news in an official club statement, which read:
“FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi signed on Saturday morning a new contract that will keep the Argentinian superstar at the Club through the 2020/21 season.
“The buyout clause was set at €700m. Thus, by the time the new deal expires, the 30-year-old striker will have spent 17 years with the first team.”
Messi insisted he wants to finish his career with the club and keep on winning trophies with the La Liga leaders, telling the club’s official website:
“I’m happy to continue with the Club, which is my home. My dream was to finish my career at Barca and we are moving down that path.
“The objective is to continue achieving things, fill the club’s trophy cases, and keep making history at Barca. We’ve been lucky enough to have won a great many things and I hope there will be more in the future.”
On his official Twitter account, Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said:
“We are in luck with the Barça players. We continue to enjoy the best player in the history of football.”
He added on the official site: “It’s a great contract for the best player in football history. It fills me with pride to see him with us renewing his love for the Club.
“It’s a new contract that we have signed today, because although the one we signed in June was up to par with his greatness as a player, the new one is more in line with the current situation in the ever-changing world of football. The buyout clause had to be modified, and it has gone from €300m to €700m.