Lionel Messi: Barcelona Star Agrees to New Contract, Will Stay Until 2018

It's good to be Lionel Messi.  

FC Barcelona confirmed on their official website that Messi would put pen to paper to make the deal official "in the coming weeks," and as a bonus for the club, Xavi and Carlos Puyol have also agreed to extensions until 2016.

A statement from the FC Barcelona website reads: "FC Barcelona has secured its ties with three of its most important players."

Messi's current deal runs until June 2016, but it's clear the club want to secure the 25-year-old during his prime. Puyol's contract was set to expire at the end of the season, while Xavi's was ending in the summer of 2014.  

In 2012, the Argentinian has passed Gerd Muller's alleged record of 85 goals in a calendar year, bagging his 89th and 90th over the weekend, his team FC Barcelona are currently nine points clear of closest competitors Atletico Madrid in the La Liga table, he has a chance to win the FIFA Ballon D'Orr for a fourth time (alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta, no less) and he just agreed to a contract extension that will keep him with Barcelona until 2018.