Barcelona reached a verbal deal with the Argentina international on a five-year extension contract at the Camp Nou, with a 50% salary reduction under new terms.
This deal is yet to be officially signed and announced.
The club hopes to conclude the deal of Messi as early as possible, but it depends on other players’ flexibility to agree on a salary cut so that they can sign Messi’s extension.
The Copa America winner has no problems having his salary cut by 50%, but he cannot sign it until the club settles the salary issues with other players.
Messi and other Argentina players, who played Copa America and are Barca players, will be asked to come back to Spain and rejoin the group in preseason training.
Should Messi’s contract renewal not be signed soon, there is no need for worry, as the Spanish club have time to settle this down until Aug. 31.
The 34-year-old announced his intention to leave the club last season, claiming the failure of the club rebuilding project. However, he had no choice but to stay for another reason under the Joan Laporta spell, who promised the Argentina international that he would make the best out of the club.
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Leo put in 47 appearances last season, scoring 38 goals and providing 14 assists.
“We hope we can cross this off soon, but we’re not entirely sure. As it stands, Barca still has some work to do to get it across the line. Incredibly, at this moment, Messi is not attached to Barcelona. He hasn’t put pen to paper yet.
“The intention is he will, but as we know, Barcelona has to lower their wage bill quite considerably, as they’ve had to do over the previous two summers.
“This year, they are working hard to get players off the wage bill, give away players in some cases, and work hard to get transfer fees for some players like Antoine Griezmann in particular, to register Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia.
“Time is running out, and Joan Laporta, the president, is under immense pressure to get these deals done, primarily to keep Messi at Barcelona.”