Messi’s new deal is a Real indication of why Barca are in the box seat

10:31 04/12/2013
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  • The news that Lionel Messi has agreed a new contract with Barcelona – along with fellow key players Carles Puyol and Xavi – is hardly a surprise.

    The advanced state of negotiations between the Argentine player and his club have been public knowledge for a long time. Furthermore, Messi still had more than three years to run on his existing deal and has never shown any inclination of leaving the Nou Camp, so getting his name onto a new piece of paper was hardly a cause for panic.

    And, of course, just because Messi has agreed a new contract until 2018 doesn’t necessarily mean that he’ll still be at Barcelona in 2018 – six years is a long time in football and contracts are made to be broken if the relationship suddenly turns sour.

    Nevertheless, the announcement is a clear indication that everything is well within the Barca family, especially considering the fact that it came on the same day as extensions until 2016 for Puyol and Xavi.

    With the team sitting nine points clear at the summit of the La Liga standings and looking forward to Thursday’s Champions’ League draw with top-seed status secured, it’s difficult to imagine how the first few months of Tito Vilanova’s reign could have gone any better.

    Top of the league, unbeaten, goals galore, European campaign progressing smoothly…and now Messi – the best player on the planet, who has just smashed a 40-year-old goalscoring record – is staying until 2018.

    Oh wait…there’s more: the two players at the head of the club’s all-time appearance table are also staying. Happy days, indeed.

    This could hardly be in greater contrast to the state of affairs on the other side of the great Spanish divide. Over at Real Madrid, everything is in turmoil. The team are dropping points left, right and centre; they stumbled through to the Champions’ League knockout phase as group runners-up; reports of dressing-room discord flow relentlessly and the embattled and unpopular manager is rumoured to be on his way out.

    All of which makes the serene progress being made at the Nou Camp even more satisfying for Barca fans. For the sake of balance, maybe, at some point in the future, Messi and Barcelona will rue the day that he signed a new contract to 2018.

    Maybe they will lose their status as a European powerhouse due to the ever-growing spending power of sides like Manchester City, PSG and Zenit. Maybe Messi will start to look for a fresh challenge and cast envious glances towards the gravy train of the English Premier League. And maybe the Argentine will lose his powers with time proving he peaked too early.

    All are possible – but none of them are even remotely likely. The more realistic scenario is that Messi will continue to flourish at the club that has adoringly nurtured him since his early teenage years, and that the ongoing presence of the world’s best player will be enough by itself to maintain Barca’s place at the top table.

    There’s no getting away from it: this is great news for Barcelona, and a matter of regret for everyone else.

     

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