Barcelona club president Josep Maria Bartomeu is reportedly keen to secure a contract renewal agreement with Lionel Messi.
Despite now being 32 years of age, the Argentine superstar has continued to impress this season with 24 goals and 16 assists in 31 appearances.
With no real sign of a decline in his game or possibly slowing down, the Catalan giants will undoubtedly hope to keep him at the club for as long as possible, and perhaps for the remainder of his career.
Messi’s current contract expires in 2021, and so with the threat of seeing him enter the final 12 months of that deal, it appears as though Barcelona are eager to act now.
According to AS, club chief Bartomeu has made Messi’s renewal his top priority as while it was on the agenda for this month, the coronavirus pandemic has unsurprisingly disrupted the plans of most clubs, but it’s seen as an important way to raise positivity at the club.
It’s added that Messi is said to prefer signing a new contract which keeps him at Barcelona until 2022, although the agreement would have the same clause as his current deal which allows him to leave in 2021.
That would certainly give some security and reassurance to Barcelona though, as it rules out the threat of losing Messi in the immediate future, although it’s still difficult to see him walking away from the reigning La Liga champions any time soon.
That said, perhaps much will depend on their ability to strengthen the squad this summer, as although they lead the way in La Liga and remain in contention for the Champions League, there have been bumps in the road this season as seen with Ernesto Valverde departing.
Barcelona haven’t always convinced this year, and so with Messi still having a few years left at the top, he’ll arguably want to see the club show ambition to strengthen the squad if he is to commit his future.