Barcelona announced Lionel Messi agreed to a three-year contract extension, "committing his future to the club" until '21, according to Sam Marsden of ESPN.com. Messi, whose current deal was due to expire in 12 months, "sees his release clause rise" to €300M ($340M) and the deal "will be signed in the coming weeks." It will be the ninth professional contract Messi has signed with Barcelona and will run until he is 34. There had "been some concern over his future" as Barça allowed him to "edge closer to the end of his current deal." However, Barcelona "always remained optimistic that he would renew." Club President Josep Maria Bartomeu "personally took charge of the negotiations." Messi follows Neymar and Luis Suárez in committing his future to the club (ESPN.com, 7/5).
SEGURA PROMOTED TO GM: Marsden also reported Barcelona appointed Josep Segura to the "newly created role" of GM as part of a "shakeup behind the scenes." Segura, 56, has been working as the head of Barça's academy for the last two years, "overseeing the ins and outs of the B team" and the two juvenile (U19) sides. In his new role, "he will still oversee that section of the club, but will now also be in charge of the first team's transfer activity, too." Barcelona said in a statement that it will publish the new structure for the "Football Area" of the club in the coming days. The club added that Sporting Dir Robert Fernández's role working on first team transfers "will remain unchanged despite Segura coming in ahead of him" (
ESPN.com, 7/5). MARCA reported the position had been "left empty" since Dir of Football
Andoni Zubizarreta's departure in '15. Segura "led a profound remodelling of the Barcelona B squad" to assist its return to the Spanish second division (
MARCA, 7/5). SPORT reported Segura's replacement as head of the club's academy will be José Mari Bakero. He "will be in charge of the B team and the two youth teams" (
SPORT, 7/5).
