Barcelona want to tie Lionel Messi down until 2022 - when he'll be 35

Barcelona want to tie Lionel Messi down until 2022 - when he'll be 35

Barcelona have began work on a contract renewal for Lionel Messi. The Catalan club want the deal to take effect from the beginning of next season (2017-18) and talks are about to begin. 

Barça’s desire was to make the first contact just after the end of the recent court case, but this didn’t happen because of the player’s obligation to return to America for the Copa America, while his father, Jorge Messi, also wanted to head to the States. 

Bases were briefly touched by Robert Fernandez with Messi, but very briefly and in a superficial way. Barcelona have the offer prepared and they plan to sit down with Jorge Messi in the coming days and put it to him. 

They want Messi to remain at the club until the end of his days as a sportsman and, for that reason, they plan to prolong his contract for five more years, minimum, one optional, to assure the presence of the Argentine star until 2022, when he will be 35. 

Barça want to have Messi as the team’s flagship player when the Camp Nou upgrades are finished. At a later date they will see if they will have to amplify the terms again. It will depend on his physical condition and his wishes. If Pep Guardiola is right, though, it won’t be Messi’s last contract, as the Catalan coach says he can play until he is 40. 

Messi, who in 18 days will turn 29, signed his current terms in May 2014. That was a four-year deal, so he’s currently in the middle of it, with two years until it expires. 

The club feel it’s the right moment to sort out a new contract and will propose that it’s all completed before the beginning of next season (2017-18). They are familiar with making these types of moves with two years left on a player’s deal and now it’s the time of Messi. 

It’s not escaped anyone that this is a crucial moment: after a low moment during which he had to appear in court in the tax fraud trial and after the club have agreed a new deal with Neymar. New terms for Messi is a way of the club showing they are by his side, that he is still the main man even after the Brazilian’s new contract. Messi’s status is not in doubt.