Barcelona, Dec 19: Lionel Messi has agreed to sign a new lucrative contract which would keep him at Barcelona till 2018, the Catalans confirmed on their official website.

Barca also revealed that midfielder Xavi Hernandez and defender Carles Puyol have agreed to extend their stay at the Camp Nou until 2016.

"This news means that FC Barcelona has secured its ties with three of its most important players. Over the course of the next few weeks, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez and Leo Messi will all be signing their respective new contracts," a statement on their official website read.

Messi, 25, will sign the improved deal which would keep him at the club until he is 31. The three-time World Player of the Year will earn a mammoth £12.5 million a year net. The Argentinean will earn huge bonuses with his pay which will automatically become his basic pay for the following season.

Messi, who recently broke Gerd Mueller's record of highest number of goals in a calendar year, is favourite to become the only player to have won the FIFA Ballon d'Or for four times.

Meanwhile, new deals for Xavi and Puyol are set to keep the duo till the end of their career. Xavi, 32, will be out of contract at the end of the next season while Puyol's contract is due to end this summer.

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