Lionel Messi signs new deal with Barcelona

Lionel Messi has hinted he may finish his career in his home country after extending his Barcelona contract to June 2018. The Argentina forward,now aged 25, has signed a two-year contract extension with Barcelona, after putting in a record-breaking 2012 for club and country, scoring 91 goals. "I said it before - in Europe I'd like to end my career at Barca. I wouldn't consider moving to another European club," Messi said after putting pen to paper on the new contract. "With that said, I'm not ruling out ending my playing career in Argentina." Messi signed a new deal on Thursday afternoon and follows Carles Puyol and Xavi, another two Barcelona legends, who both signed their extensions in January. A statement on the Barcelona official website said: "Leo Messi extended his contract with FC Barcelona through 30 June of 2018. The signing ceremony was attended by the player, president Sandro Rosell, vice-president Josep Maria Bartomeu and the director of football Andoni Zubizarreta. Messi added two additional years to his existing contract, which was set to expire in June of 2016. The player, who joined the club when he was 13 and made his first-team debut three years later, will be 31 when his contract expires." Messi has been in the best goal-scoring form of his career in 2012 and managed to beat Gerd Mueller's 40-year-old record of 85 goals scored in a calendar year with a double in a 2-1 win over Real Betis on 9 December. 2013 doesn't seem much worse for Messi as he has scored eight times in Barcelona's first five La Liga matches of this calendar year, including four against Osasuna in a 5-1 win on 27 January. Last month Messi was awarded the Ballon d'Or for a fourth year running ahead of Barcelona team-mate Andres Iniesta and Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid. Barcelona are top of the La Liga rankings with a nine-point advantage over second placed Atletico Madrid. They play the first leg of their last 16 tie in the Champions League away at AC Milan on 20 February, here are the odds from Bet365 for that giants clash: AC Milan win - 6/1 Draw - 10/3 Barcelona win - 4/9