Messi signs new Barca deal with $835m buyout clause
barcelona — Lionel Messi hopes to end his career at Barcelona after ending months of speculation on Saturday by signing a contract extension to 2021, sealing an agreement reached in July, the club announced.
Barca had said in the summer that Messi, 30, had committed his future to the club but the Argentine had not signed the new deal.
With his previous contract set to expire in 2018, Messi could have left Barca for free next summer had he not extended his deal.
“We have needed to do the signature for some time. It is done and I am happy to remain tied to the club,” Messi told Barca TV.
“I have always said I wanted to end my career here, it is my dream to finish at Barcelona and we are on the right track.” Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said the club needed to change the deal agreed in June to increase Messi’s buyout clause to 700 million euros ($835 million) and prevent the danger of a repeat of Neymar’s departure when Paris Saint-Germain paid the Brazilian’s 222 millioneuro buyout clause in August.
“We agreed to sign a new deal with a buyout clause adjusted to the current transfer market,” said Bartomeu.
“The buyout clause is 700 million. It allows us to keep Leo Messi where he should be.”
Without Neymar, Messi’s role as a creator and goalscorer has increased in a Barca side that has unusually built its stunning start to the season on a defensive record of 13 clean sheets in 18 games.
“The departure of Ney has meant a change in the way we play,” Messi, who has 16 goals in 19 games this campaign, told Spanish sports daily Marca on Saturday, a day after picking up his fourth Golden Shoe as the top goalscorer in Europe last season.
“We lost a huge amount of attacking potential, but that has benefited us in a defensive sense. Now we are more solid in midfield, we have more structure and that has made us stronger defensively.”
Barca first announced an agreement with Messi back on July 5, but pressure has been mounting on Bartomeu to get Messi to put pen to paper after a turbulent summer for the Catalans. —
Manchester United closed the gap on Premier League leaders Manchester City to five points with a 1-0 win over Brighton, while Tottenham’s title hopes suffered another blow in a 1-1 draw against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Jose Mourinho’s United bounced back from their surprise Champions League defeat at Basel in midweek thanks to Lewis Dunk’s second half own goal at Old Trafford.
However, City can reopen an eight-point advantage over their Manchester rivals if they win at Huddersfield on Sunday.
Tottenham’s bid to win the title for the first time since 1961 is in tatters after their latest frustrating result at Wembley left them 10 points behind City.
At Old Trafford, United, featuring seven changes from the Basel loss, found it hard to break Brighton’s stubborn resistence before finally nabbing the crucial goal in the 56th minute.
Dale Stephens headed Marcus Rashford’s corner to Ashley Young on the edge of the area and his shot deflected off Dunk and looped over Brighton keeper Mat Ryan.
That was enough to secure United’s second consecutive league win as they try to keep pace with City.
It was United’s club record 39th successive home game without defeat. Tottenham have had mixed results at Wembley since moving into their temporary home while White Hart Lane is redeveloped and once again they lacked a cutting edge against supposedly inferior opponents.
The pre-match headlines focused on Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino’s decision to leave left-back Danny Rose out of the squad for the second time in seven days. Rose admitted he was “fuming” with his absence from the north London derby and although he played 90 minutes in Tottenham’s midweek win at Borussia Dortmund, there was no place for the England international against Albion.
Albion were led by caretaker boss Gary Megson following Tony Pulis’s sacking earlier this week and they took a shock fourth minute lead.
Notching his first goal since September, Salomon Rondon sprinted onto Jake Livermore’s pass, held off Davinson Sanchez and hit a scuffed shot that trickled past Tottenham goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. —
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