Barcelona Seals New Nike Deal

Barcelona members passed a bumper contract extension with American kit manufactures Nike that will see the Catalans make at least €150 million a season from 2018.

The initial deal, which smashes Manchester United’s previous record deal with Adidas, will run until 2023 when Barca’s members will have the chance to vote in favour of a further five-year extension.

“It is a figure which puts us number one in the world for sponsorship in the sports industry,” Barca vice-president Manuel Arroyo told the club’s annual general meeting on Saturday.

“The fixed rare of the contract increases 48 percent and the royalties also increase.

“From this season (2018-19), the total turnover of the deal will be around 155 million euros.”

Barca confirmed in May they had reached a deal to continue their partnership with Nike, which began in 1998, without releasing the value of the deal.

The agreement will be a huge boost to Barcelona’s aim to be the first football club to break the one billion euro revenue barrier by 2021.

The Spanish champions overcame eternal rivals Real Madrid with a record turnover of €679 million last season.

Members on Saturday also passed a budget of €695 million for this season, a massive 392 million of which will go on sporting salaries.

However, that figure could even rise as president Josep Maria Bartomeu said the club are working on renewing the contracts of star forwards Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi after Neymar recently extended his deal to 2021.

“These strikers are spectacular. Believe that our principal objective is that they all stay here,” Bartomeu said of Barca’s ‘MSN’ frontline.

“Neymar has renewed and now we are trying so that Suarez stays here for many years to come and then we will speak with Messi of course. He is the catalyst, the one that makes everything else function.”