Lionel Messi commits future to Barcelona until 2018

Lionel Messi has agreed a new contract with Barcelona, keeping him at the Spanish club until 2018.

The three-time World Player of the Year was previously signed up until 2016 and will be 31 by the time his latest deal expires.

And Barca have also tied down one-club stalwarts Xavi and Carles Puyol until the summer of 2016 – effectively for the rest of their careers.

The Argentina international, 25, has enjoyed a record-breaking year for club and country, scoring 90 goals in 2012. Messi is in the running for a fourth successive FIFA Ballon d’Or, due to be awarded on 7 January

Messi will have played 14 seasons at Camp Nou by the summer of 2018, and he already has five Primera Liga winners’ medals and three from the Champions League.

Xavi’s new deal, meanwhile, is due to expire almost 18 years after his Barca debut as an 18-year-old in 1998 – little more than 12 months before Puyol made his first senior appearance.