BARCELONA: Lionel Messi ended months of speculation when finally putting pen to paper on Saturday to extend his contract with Barcelona until 2021, the club announced, making official an agreement reached in July.
Barca had announced in the summer that Messi, 30, had committed his future to the club but the Argentine had not signed the new deal.
With his previous contract set to expire in 2018, Messi could have left Barca for free next summer had he not extended his deal.
“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,” read a club statement.
“The buyout clause was set at 700 million euros ($835 million).”
The steep rise in the five-time World Player of the Year’s buyout clause is designed to avoid any repeat of Paris Saint-Germain’s capture of Neymar from Barcelona by paying the Brazilian’s 222 million-euro buyout clause in August.
Barca first announced an agreement with Messi back on July 5, but pressure has been mounting on beleaguered club president Josep Maria Bartomeu to get Messi to put pen to paper after a turbulent summer for the Catalans.
Neymar’s departure sparked an institutional crisis and Bartomeu was heavily criticized for failing to ward off PSG with a higher buyout clause and a haphazard search for replacements in the final weeks of the transfer window.
Bartomeu did though manage to see off a vote of no confidence measure launched by disgruntled fans thanks to Barca’s fantastic start to the season, in large part inspired by Messi’s form.
Bartomeu had previously claimed the deal was all “agreed and signed” via Messi’s father and agent Jorge Horacio Messi.
Yet, to eradicate any doubts, Bartomeu now also has the image he craved of a smiling Messi tying the remainder of his peak years to the club.
Messi’s 30 trophies are, along with teammate Andres Iniesta, the most in Barca’s history, including eight La Liga and four Champions League titles.
The diminutive Argentine, who joined Barca at the age of 13, has also smashed 523 goals in 602 games to become the Catalans’ all-time top goalscorer.
“Obviously, a lot of time has passed and a lot of things have happened, both on and off the pitch since then, but the excitement and desire remains the same,” Messi told Spanish sports daily Marca on Saturday, a day after picking up his fourth golden boot as the top goalscorer in Europe last season.
News of Messi’s contract renewal also comes as a huge boost to the leaders of La Liga ahead of Sunday’s top-of-the-table clash at Valencia (1945 GMT).
Barca lead a revitalized Valencia by four points, with both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid a further six points adrift, thanks to a club record start of 11 wins and one draw from 12 games.
Despite leaving Messi on the bench, Barca also sealed their place in the last 16 of the Champions League with a 0-0 draw at Juventus on Wednesday.
Messi extends Barcelona contract until 2021
Messi extends Barcelona contract until 2021
Osimhen, Nigeria seek harmony with Algeria up next at AFCON
- Wins against Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda in the group stage were followed by a 4-0 demolition of Mozambique
- “The team is improving every single game,” said Lookman
RABAT: Led by Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman, Nigeria’s form at the Africa Cup of Nations has offered cause for optimism ahead of Saturday’s heavyweight quarter-final against Algeria despite reports of unrest in the squad.
The Super Eagles arrived in Marrakech for the last-eight tie as the top scorers at the tournament with 12 goals in their four games so far.
Wins against Tanzania, Tunisia and Uganda in the group stage were followed by a 4-0 demolition of Mozambique in Fes in the last 16, the biggest victory for anyone in an AFCON knockout tie since 2010.
Osimhen and Lookman, winners of the African player of the year prize in 2023 and 2024 respectively, have played starring roles with three goals each as Nigeria target Cup of Nations success as a tonic for their World Cup woes.
“The team is improving every single game,” said Lookman, who has also set up four goals at the tournament, after the Mozambique victory.
Nigeria have started strongly despite the team returning to Morocco reeling in the wake of their failure to qualify for the World Cup.
Having only just sneaked into the play-offs for the tournament in North America, the Super Eagles saw their hopes ended in a penalty shoot-out loss to the Democratic Republic of Congo in Rabat in November.
They will therefore miss a second consecutive World Cup having appeared at six of the previous seven competitions.
That represents a fiasco for a football-mad nation with by far the largest population on the continent, but the Cup of Nations has a tendency to throw up unexpected success stories.
Ivory Coast’s incredible revival at the last AFCON two years ago, when they were on the brink of elimination in the group stage as hosts before coming back to win the trophy with victory against Nigeria in the final, is the perfect example.
- Bust-ups and bonuses -
Of the nine African nations who qualified directly for this year’s World Cup, Ghana and Cape Verde failed to make it to Morocco for the Cup of Nations.
Nigeria, meanwhile, are hoping to claim a fourth continental crown to soothe their disappointment at not being among the teams bound for the United States, Canada and Mexico.
This week marks a year since Eric Chelle, a former Mali player and coach, took over the Super Eagles but all he can do is try to keep his focus on Algeria amid much off-field noise.
Lookman had to play down suggestions of a bust-up with Osimhen in the last-16 win, when the latter appeared angry at his teammate for not giving him the ball.
The Galatasaray striker was then substituted and took no part in victory celebrations on the pitch with his teammates at the end of the game.
Atalanta forward Lookman later told journalists: “He’s our number one guy, everyone knows this. Top striker, top player, the rest is not really important.”
Chelle must hope harmony is restored for the game against Algeria, a repeat of the 2019 AFCON semifinal which the Super Eagles lost 2-1 in Cairo to a late Riyad Mahrez goal.
However, preparations for the showdown have been overshadowed by reports of a dispute over bonuses, with multiple sources in recent days saying the team had not been paid money promised following their first four matches.
That led to talk of a training boycott, but reports on Thursday said the issue had been resolved, with Nigeria Football Federation president Ibrahim Musa Gusau telling ESPN that “payments had been processed.”
A Nigeria team spokesperson confirmed to AFP that the squad was training as planned in Marrakech, as Chelle and his players eye a place in the semifinals.
