Lionel Messi is close to renewing with Barcelona for five seasons more according to L’Esportiu and Mundo Deportivo. The official announcement could be delayed by a few days while the club wait for the green light from La Liga, but Joan Laporta and Mateu Alemany are confident that they’ve got it over the line.
Barcelona are aware, however, that it’s unlikely Messi will still be playing for the club in 2026; it’s more likely he’d convert his role at Camp Nou into an ambassadorial one that would enable him to finish his playing days in the United States.
The lawyers of both parties are now reviewing the fine print of the contract as well as its technical aspects; it’s as complex a contract as you might expect for the best footballer in the world. Everything could be signed, sealed and delivered in ten days or so, meaning Messi could join pre-season at the beginning of August as a fully-fledged Barcelona player.
Messi has accepted a salary that’s about half what he earned from the contract signed in 2017 during the Josep Maria Bartomeu era, in a bid to meet La Liga’s strict salary cap. It’s thought the mooted trade deal involving Antoine Griezmann and Atletico Madrid’s Saul could be completed before Messi’s is.
