Barcelona to hand Messi £80 million just for signing new deal

Lionel Messi is close to signing a new £500,000-a-week deal at Barcelona. Messi's 'signing bonus' for staying at Barcelona could be as high as a record-breaking £80million and the club hope to have a naming-rights sponsor for the Nou Camp as early as next season to help them pay for it, Daily Mail reported.

It is normal for clubs to add a signing-on fee or a renewal bonus in contracts but Messi's – estimated to be between £79m and £85m – is believed to be the highest ever.

Barca are hopeful of announcing a new Nike deal next year as they try to further boost revenue to meet the wages and bonuses bill and the Nou Camp could have a sponsor's name added to it for the new season.

Work on the 'New Camp Nou' is not scheduled to start until 2019 but the stadium could be given a new name as early as 2018 with the company Van Wagner already studying the field of options.