Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has confirmed that the Catalan giants are set to enter into negotiations with club talisman Lionel Messi over a £175 million contract that would keep him at the Nou Camp for the rest of his career. The 31-year-old is currently contracted with the club till 2021, with the star earning a massive £500,000-a-week, which totals up to a whooping £26m a year.

Should the Catalan club offer him a same deal, it will see Messi take home £130m, while he will also likely pocket a signing on bonus of £45m - the sum he was reportedly awarded with when he last penned a new contract.

Bartomeu for his part has admitted that the club management want to tie him with them for the future, as he still has a number of years in the sport to go before he retires.
"We want him to have a really long career so we can keep on enjoying him. Lionel's managed to break down borders. Everyone admires him and he's applauded at other stadiums by rival fans.

We would like to renew his contract, that's the idea. He is young – you can see that [in his performances] – and he still has two years on his deal," he said to ESPN as quoted by Sun.

"He's always improving, always innovating. I believe he still has many years in front of him and in the coming months we will sit down with him so that he has many more years at Barcelona."

One of the greatest, if not the greatest player in the history of the sport, Messi is a club icon and their all-time record goalscorer, netting 595 goals in 677 appearances while also registering 238 assists.

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