Lionel Messi is back in Barcelona. The Argentine landed in the Catalan capital on Wednesday evening on a flight from Ibiza, where he’d been on vacation with his family – as well as Luis Suarez and Neymar. Barcelona are expected to make his renewal with the club official in the coming hours according to Marca.
💣 ÚLTIMA HORA | Leo Messi llega a Barcelona para renovar con el @FCBarcelona
🏖️ Pone punto y final a sus vacaciones a la espera de que el club anuncie su continuidad
🗣️ @JoanLaportaFCB quiere que el domingo dé él un discurso como capitán en el Gamper#LaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/QWOJJHsvIv
— El Partidazo de COPE (@partidazocope) August 4, 2021
An agreement between the player and the club was reached in principle three weeks ago, and will be made official imminently. Those at the club are already breathing easy; Joan Laporta has done what he promised. Jorge Messi, Lionel’s father and agent, will be in Barcelona by the end of this week and Messi will be with the squad for Sunday’s Joan Gamper Trophy clash with Juventus.
Argentina Copa America winning captain Lionel Messi landing in Barcelona. This from @ap_angelperez. pic.twitter.com/VncpkoPxQK
— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) August 4, 2021
The deal Messi has agreed is expected to run for five seasons, the last three of which could be spent representing the club in the United States. The deal was finally closed thanks to Messi’s willingness to halve his salary as well as the economic injection La Liga has received from investment fund CVC.
