After much speculation and uncertainty over his future, Lionel Messi is all set to sign a new Barcelona contract when he returns from his honeymoon in the middle of this month, Goal reports.
Messi’s immediate future had been in doubt after the star attacker turned down a number of contracts at the Camp Nou, sparking rumours he was on his way out of the Spanish club.
But the 30-year-old maestro, who married long-time partner Antonela Roccuzzo in Rosario on Friday, will now return to the Catalan capital with his family on July 12 when he’s expected to seal the deal.
Messi and Antonela are presently on their honeymoon with sons Thiago and Mateo on the Carribean islands of Antigua and Barbuda, but the superstar will join the rest of the squad at the training ground in Sant Joan Despi for medical examinations ahead of the coming season.
The five-time Ballon d’Or winner runs out of contract in 2018, but a new agreement is all but finalised after months of negotiations between the player, his father Jorge and the club.
It is understood that this new deal will take him up until 2021 with the option of one further season and the deal should make him the world’s highest-paid player with wages in excess of €22m per year after tax.
Messi is enjoying a longer break this summer after playing at the World Cup, the Copa America and the Copa America Centenario in the last three summers, and will return to competitive action with a Spanish Supercopa series against Real Madrid in August.
The Argentine conjurer has won 30 trophies since making his Barca debut in 2004 and is now expected to retire at the club following this new deal.
