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Lionel Messi will continue to be a Barcelona player after reaching an agreement with the club on a new five-year contract. CBS football insider Fabrizio Romano initially announced that the deal between the two sides was reached weeks ago, with only the details remaining to be worked out before it was made official.
The Argentina international has just won the Copa America with his country and is currently on vacation ahead of the start of the 2021-22 season with Barca with him expected to put his pen to the deal later this month.
Messi, 34, saw his contract expire at the end of last month as the poor financial health of the Catalan giants was a major obstacle to signing and ratifying the deal. The new agreement will therefore include a significant pay cut.
Barca’s financial woes are such that new signings Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia have yet to be registered to play due to strict La Liga salary cap rules which dictate that big earners must be sold for newcomers are eligible to play competitively. .
It has been a long road to Messi’s contract. Details of the mind-boggling numbers from his previous contract were leaked in the midst of his candidacy last year to leave the only professional club he has ever played for.
Last summer, the superstar attempted to activate a clause that would have allowed him to become a free agent, but Barcelona have threatened to oppose the legality of the ruling in court. In the end, Messi relented and returned for the final year of his contract which expired a few weeks ago.
Although teams like Manchester City and PSG have aggressively courted the star when it looked like he might try to make his way, it has become clear in recent weeks that it is only a matter of time before that Messi does not resign with his current club.
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