Lionel Messi has finally put pen to paper to tie himself down to a contract extension at Barcelona according to president Josep Maria Bartomeu.
The wild speculation of interest from Man City in triggering Messi’s extortionate €300m release clause (per TalkSport) has kept many of us up at night dreaming of seeing the little magician tearing up the Premier League, but it appears the deal will now definitely not come to fruition.
The Mirror have citied comments made by the Barcelona president on Spanish outlet 8TV in which he claims that the Argentine’s father has already completed the contract negotiations and papers on Messi’s behalf with an official statement and picture set to be published in the coming days.
The contract extension is reported to tie the iconic number ten to the Nou Camp until 2021. However, the new contract will also feature a €300m release clause so perhaps there is still hope for City fans with that incentive still there?
A possible move to Manchester would have seen Messi reuniting with his former Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola which is sure to have had football fans around the world watering at the mouth at the prospect of those two being back together.
However, we can only assume that perhaps the Argentine doesn’t fancy turning out on a cold and wet night in Stoke anytime soon. Who can blame him?