According to a report from Diario Sport, there are major news at FC Barcelona with the whole Lionel Messi contract renewal.
Pending further confirmation from both parties, it appears we have some major news on the whole Lionel Messi contract extension with FC Barcelona. Diario Sport just reported that the agreement is complete and the announcement will come within the next couple of days. Joan Laporta’s plan was to seal the final details of this agreement and the report confirms he finally did.
Messi is set to take a 50% pay cut to his previous €70 million per season salary. Leo will now earn €35 per season and he will sign a contract until June of 2026. In order to make th agreement official, Messi agreed to wait until the president can shorten the salary cap at the club through a number of maneuvers. But the Argentine star already said yes to these terms and will wait for the other settings to be finalized.
Who is staying and who is leaving?
The plan to get Messi to stay involved convincing veteran academy products to agree on a slight delay to 40% of their wages. These players are Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, and Sergio Busquets. Until last week, only Alba refused this agreement but Laporta is still trying to convince him. The club is also confident they can get rid of Samuel Umtiti, Miralem Pjanic, and Martin Braithwaite before the Gamper Trophy.
And last but not least, the president needs to reach some sort of an agreement with Phil Coutinho and Antoine Griezmann. Both of these players could stay at the club if they agree to an over 70% pay cut of their salaries. The Frenchman seems more willing to bend the knee compared to the Brazilian midfielder but Laporta thinks he can get both of them to stay. There’s light at the end of the tunnel for Barcelona after all.
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