FC Barcelona are set to open contract talks with Lionel Messi as his contract expires in 2021.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu will lead the negotiations with Messi’s father Jorge Messi who is also his agent. There is a clause in Messi’s contract that his contract can be extended till 2022 but Bartomeu is keen to extend his contracts till 2023.
Bartomeu told the sources that he is planning to offer Messi a lifetime contract at some point of time even though his contract is extended only till 2021.
The club announced Messi’s contract in 2017 June just before Neymar’s world record move to PSG but actually Messi signed the contract in November.
That was Messi’s ninth professional deal and eight contract extension , where his release clause lifted up to €700 million. Messi signed his first professional deal in 2004 extending it twice in 2005 and 2007, in 2007 he signed a contract until 2014 when his release clause was €150m.
One year later after the departure of club legend Ronaldinho he signed another new contract in 2009 where he helped Barcelona to win a treble he signed a 7-year deal his release clause jumped up to 250 Million Euros.
Despite having a contract until 2016, at the beginning of 2013, Messi signed another new deal and then extended again in 2014, just before the World Cup, before signing his most recent deal in 2017.
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