Lionel Messi agrees to a contract that will keep him at Barcelona until 2021

Spanish club FC Barcelona and Lionel Messi signed the contract extension on Saturday morning which will keep him at the Catalan capital until 2020/21 season.

The left-footed striker joined Barcelona in 2000, as a 13-year-old after agreeing to the contract deal on paper-napkin before the club finalised the deal for Messi arriving from the Argentinian club Newell’s Old Boys.

The 30-year-old’s release-clause has been increased from 300 million euros to 700 million euros. By the time the new contract expires for the Argentinian, the striker would have completed 17 years with the first team.

Messi made his debut for Barcelona’s senior side in the when he was 16, against the Portuguese club FC Porto in a friendly. However, it was against the Catalan rivals Espanyol Messi made his official debut. Soon after that, he scored his first senior goal with a clever lob against Albacete at the Camp Nou.

Messi has broken multiple records every since:

The striker since then has gone on to break multiple records at both club level and national level. During his time at Barcelona, Messi has racked up eight La Liga titles, four Champions Leagues, five Copas del Rey, seven Spanish Super Cups, three European Super Cups, and three Club World Cups. In total, Messi has 30 titles tied with the midfielder Andres Iniesta for most-titles in club history.

Messi has gone on to become the best player on the pitch, four times in a row alongside his staggering number of goals and assists for the club. As recent as yesterday, the striker received his fourth golden shoe which was handed to him personally by his fellow striker Luis Suarez.

At the age of 30, Messi is in his 14th season for the first-team, and by the time his new contract expires he would have finished his 17th season in the Blaugrana jersey.