Barcelona Left Sweating as Lionel Messi Still Hasn't Signed Contract Extension
Lionel Messi is remarkably still yet to sign the new contract extension which he agreed with Barcelona earlier this summer, according to a report from Goal.
Amid an early-season capitulation on and off the pitch, Barca were initially adamant that the 5-time Ballon d'Or winner would sign a renewed deal at the club, which would see the talisman stay at Camp Nou until 2021. His previous deal - which technically remains his current one following the revelations, expires next summer.
On the club's website at the time of confirmation, a press release stated: "The deal will be signed in the coming weeks, when Messi returns to the team for pre-season training."
But, after a 5-1 aggregate humiliation at the hands of bitter domestic rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish Supercopa on Wednesday night, the Blaugrana were resigned to admitting that the 30-year-old was still indeed yet to pledge his future towards his current employers.
Barcelona showcased latest €40m acquisition Paulinho on Thursday, and during the unveiling of the Brazilian midfielder, the club's vice-president Jordi Mestre shed some light on the troublesome Messi matter, saying: "It is all agreed and we are waiting for a date for the signing. Everything is in place, with just the signature missing.
“Leo's renewal is something we are totally clear about and we have worked on it for a long time. Everything looks very good and I would be very surprised if the signing didn't happen."
Although Mestre seems to possess a terrible knack of wrongly foretelling reality, after he infamously said that Neymar was '200 per cent' certain to stay at Barcelona this summer, and after Paris Saint-Germain sensationally met the attacker's €222m release clause recently, Barca fans will have the right to be sceptical of his judgement.
