Lionel Messi Agrees To 50% Pay Cut To Extend His Contract With Barcelona

Lionel Messi will accept a significant wage cut in order to continue playing for Barcelona. Reports emerging from Spain are that he will put pen to paper on a five-year deal. The contract will run till 2026 when Lionel Messi will be 39. The Catalan club is in a messy financial situation with around 1 billion dollars of debt. They have to make significant cutbacks to salaries and expenditure. All the transfers they have completed this summer have been free transfers. Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay, and Eric Garcia were all free agents picked up by Joan Laporta. They were blown out of the race for Gini Wijnaldum by PSG. The Paris club lured the Dutch midfielder with a better financial package.

Lionel Messi recently won the Copa America with Argentina, ending their 28-year trophy drought. He has been a free agent for the last two weeks after his latest Barcelona contract came to an end on July 1. Despite Messi’s posturing to leave last summer, the departure of Josep Bartomeu and the arrival of Joan Laporta eased his tension. He also shares a good relationship with Barcelona boss Ronald Koeman. All roads point to Messi continuing his 20-year relationship with the club. Official announcements will be made soon.