Neymar signs new long-term deal with Barcelona
Freshly after winning the Champions, the Catalan giants want to ensure that their second top-scorer remains at the Camp Nou in the foreseeable future...
Neymar Jr. has extended his contract with FC Barcelona. According to the prominent local newspaper Sport, the 23-year-old winger has reached a verbal agreement with his employers.
Under those new terms, he will be tied down till 2018 and pocket approximately £9 million per year. That salary does not equal Lionel Messi‘s annual earnings, but it is significantly bigger than those of the average Barcelona player.
Currently, Neymar is on international duty with the Selecao in Chile. There, he is vying for glory in the ongoing Copa America - a competition which, in simple terms, is the equivalent of the UEFA Euro in South-American soil. Some might argue that is the other way round, considering the myriad of football stars involved in the tournament. One of whom is Neymar, the player dubbed as “Pele’s heir” (hence him being attributed Brazil’s iconic number 10 shirt and the captain’s armband).
However, in the process of achieving glory in Chilean soil, the Brazilian stalwart will probably crush the dreams of his beloved teammate Leo Messi. In fact, La Pulga himself is seeking an elusive first international triumph with Argentina following two World Cup heartbreaks (losses in final and quarter final) and a huge disillusion at the 2011 Copa America which his home country hosted (elimination at the quarter-finals).
However, for the time being, Messi will welcome his strike partner’s imminent prolongation at Barcelona. Actually, it will be the perfect topic of discussion in the stadium tunnel, right before Argentina and Brazil face each other in the Copa America final. That is if the two teams overcome the (many) hurdles leading to that decisive fixture…
