It seems like finally the saga surrounding Lionel Messi's contract situation at Barcelona has come to an end.
According to reports, the Argentinian ace, who also ended his long wait for a national team title as Argentina beat Brazil in this summer's Copa America final, will be staying on at Barcelona for years to come. The Blaugrana were panicked at the prospect of losing their all-time top goalscorer after his contract expired on June 30th, thus making him a free agent.
Barcelona's debt crisis - to the tune of a whopping $1.5 billion - had executives really nervous as to whether they'd be able to hang on to the six-time Ballon d'Or winner. Due to COVID-19, they also had to reduce their salary cap from approximately $800 million in 2019 to just $454 million, and with the signings of players like Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay, plus an inability to move on some other high-earning personnel their hopes at keeping Messi at the Camp Nou were looking increasingly grim. Despite selling Jean-Clair Todibo, Carles Alena, Juan Miranda, and Junior Firpo to raise funds, none of those players were exactly household names and thus didn't command hefty fees.
However, Messi and Barcelona now have come to a crucial agreement. Not only will the 34-year-old sign a new five year contract, but he's expected to slash his earnings in half in order to make sure Barcelona are able to keep him at the Camp Nou.
To put things in perspective, Messi's last five year contract saw him earn $650 million (€550 million/£468 million), which will be over $100 million per season. Cutting his earnings by half would see this drop to just over $50 million, but given that he's worth over $400 million, it will hardly see him struggling for funds, that's for sure.
Details are expected to be released by Barcelona within the next few weeks once all is settled, but this news will surely come as a great relief for Blaugrana fans all over the world.
