Lionel Messi has reached a verbal agreement to sign a five-year contract extension at Barcelona.
According to Sky Sports, his salary is reduced by 50 per cent under the terms of the new deal.
The six-time Ballon d’Or winner was officially a free agent as of July 1. He failed to agree on terms over a renewal before his previous Barcelona contract expired on June 30.
Five-year contract
One of the more interesting aspects of the deal is that the Spanish side intends to keep Messi for two years only.