Barcelona (Spain) - Lionel Messi has agreed a new contract with Barcelona Football club, keeping him at the Spanish club until 2018. The Argentina international aged 25 has enjoyed a record-breaking year for club and country, scoring 90 goals in 2012.
Defender Carles Puyol, 34, and midfielder Xavi Hernandez, 32, have also agreed new deals that will keep them at Barcelona until 2016.
"In the coming weeks Puyol, Xavi and Messi will sign their respective new contracts," the club confirmed.
"This news means that FC Barcelona has secured its ties with three of its most important players."
Messi's current deal expires in June 2016, with Puyol's running until 2013 and Xavi until 2014.
All three players are products of the club's famed academy.
Messi has been with Barcelona since he was 13 and made his league debut as a 17-year-old against RCD Espanyol on 16 October 2004.
He has been in the best goal-scoring form of his career in 2012 and surpassed Gerd Mueller's 40-year-old record of 85 goals scored in a calendar year with a brace in a 2-1 win over Real Betis on 9 December.
Messi took his tally for the year to 90 on Sunday with another two goals as Barcelona defeated Atletico Madrid 4-1.
However, Fifa has refused to get involved in the debate about who holds the world record for scoring the most goals in a year.
It was widely reported that Lionel Messi's 86th goal of 2012, which he scored on Sunday, surpassed a mark set by Germany's Gerd Mueller 40 years ago.
But the Zambian Football Association claimed Godfrey Chitalu had scored 107 goals for club and country in 1972.
The world governing body said that, given it only maintains statistics for the international competitions it runs, it is not possibly to ratify records from club football around the world.
Messi is in contention to be named World Player of the Year for a fourth time, having been included on a three-man shortlist alongside Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid and Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta.
Barcelona are in a strong position to claim a 22nd La Liga title this season. They have a nine-point lead at the top of the table, having won 15 of the 16 games they have played so far this season.
