Tuesday, November 28, 2017

On Saturday, Argentine forward Lionel Messi signed a contract extension with Spanish football club FC Barcelona, the club announced via their official website. The new contract runs until 2021.

30-year-old Messi joined Blaugrana from Argentine club Newell’s Old Boys in 2000 at the age of thirteen and made his professional debut at the age of seventeen. In his tenure at Camp Nou, the Argentine international has won four UEFA Champions League titles, eight Spanish LaLiga titles, five Copa del Rey trophies, seven Supercopa de España (Spanish Super Cups), three European Super Cups, and three FIFA Club World Cups. Along with Barcelona’s midfielder Andrés Iniesta, Messi has won 30 trophies with the Catalans, the most in the club’s history.

Messi has played 603 games in the Catalan jersey, scoring 523 goals in all competitions including 361 goals in LaLiga. All time top-scorer in LaLiga and FC Barcelona’s history, Messi won his fourth European Golden Shoe on Friday for finishing as the top-scorer in all European leagues, scoring 37 goals in LaLiga last season.

Per the previous contract, Messi was tied to FC Barcelona until June 2018. Per the new contract, the Argentinian’s buy-out clause is set to €700 million which was previously set to €300 million. After penning the three-year extension, Messi said, “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.”