6th February, 2013
Showing a bewildering lack of curiosity about life elsewhere than the Camp Nou, little Lionel Messi will formally sign his new Barcelona contract tomorrow.
The Catalan giants announced in December that the Argentina superstar, who has been with the club since 2000, was to extend his stay by a further two years.
The deal will keep him at the club until June 30, 2018, when he will have just celebrated his 31st birthday. The deal is reported to have worth €55m (about N11.7 billion).
Goal.com reported that the Argentine’s current deal had been set to expire in 2016, but Catalans had already reached an agreement with the Argentine over a two-year extension in December 2012, and the prolific attacker will put pen to paper tomorrow.
Messi will reportedly earn an annual salary of €11 million after taxes, while he has a €250m buy-out clause in his new deal. The 25-year-old is the third key player to sign a contract extension with Barca in 2013 after previous new deals for captain Carles Puyol and vice-captain Xavi.
Messi has made over 350 official appearances for Barcelona since making his official debut in 2004-05, netting nearly 300 goals in the process.