Nico Williams has delighted fans in the city of Bilbao (and has caused a lot of consternation in Barcelona) with the announcement that the exciting young international Spain has signed a new 10 -year contract with Athletic Club.
After a series of outstanding performances in LaLiga last season, Williams had been Barça's transfer goal. However, athletics has moved quickly to cut any outbreak speculation by making the 22 -year -old ends with the club until 2035 and increases its release clause of 58 million euros in “more than 50%”
Williams now joins the older brother, Iñaki Williams, as one of the oldest players in Athletic and World Football, and the latter signed an equally extensive agreement with the Basque side several years ago.
Many players have signed in equally long terms, and some enjoy more success than others. Here is a selection of the last times of some of the largest contracts that have been delivered in Europe, and how they turned out.
Editor's note: A version of this article was first published in June 2020 and since then it has been updated.
Athletic Club loves to offer long -term agreements, given their transfer policy, it only allows you to sign the players who are linked to the Basque region of Spain.
Both are key players in the team of coach Ernesto Valverde, with the midfielder's attacker Sancet scoring 15 goals and Vivian being part of LaLiga's most bad defense as Athletic ended up to qualify for the champions League next season. Good job, they are committed to the club until 2032.
Rank: hit
Fàbregas signed an eight -year contract with Arsenal in 2006, since Arsène Wenger wanted to build his team after the invincibles around the young midfielder of Spain.
19 At that time, Fàbregas gave the gunners five years before the magnetic attraction of his DNA took him back to Barcelona in 2011. Although that movement really did not work.
Rank: hit
When it comes to the longest active contracts in world football, Chelsea currently has nine of the 12 best players that appear in their books.
The end of Ukraine Mudryk arrived in January 2023 after completing a transfer of 70 million euros (more € 30m in accessories) of Shakhtar Donetsk. According to the reports, he hoped to join Arsenal at one time, but the offer of a lucrative contract of 8 and a half years of the blues was understandable that influences his trial.
Unfortunately, the quick striker has not yet earned his skeptics after not printing during a sporadic chain of cameos of the first team. And as if things were not bad enough, Mudryk has not appeared for Chelsea since the beginning of December after being provisionally suspended by the FA for a continuous problem of drug test, and now faces a prohibition of up to four years recently having been recently charged by the FA.
Rank: Miss
Chelsea became great in his efforts to reward Palmer from Manchester City in the summer of 2023 and finally caused young people to advance on board with a seven -year contract. Palmer proved to be an instant blow by scoring 25 goals during a successful debut season at Stamford Bridge that then concluded with the club hurriedly agreed to attack another two years at the end of the mega-of the 22-year-old from the young man, extending it to nine years.
Fernández impressed with Argentina in the 2022 World Cup and Chelsea made him the most expensive player in the history of British football in a transfer of 121 million euros designed to keep him tied to the club until the summer of 2031. It is fair to say that the midfielder had a slightly lower start in the melting bridge, given his highest ticket as the fifth player of all the time.
The same goes for Jackson, who has begun to reach the network more regularly after arriving from Villarreal and signing an initial eight -year contract, before writing another two years at the top.
Other players currently in Chelsea's books with contractual obligations seven years or more include Pedro Neto, Renato Veiga, Moisés Caicedo, Filip Jørgensen and Aaron Anselmino.
Rank: hit
Messi signed nine different contracts during his time in Barcelona (the one shown in 2014), but the longest was the nine -year agreement that agreed in September 2005, a matter of months after reaching the first team.
Messi enrolled until 2014 and doubled his salary in the process, but we believe it is sure to say that Barça definitely obtained more than the value of his money, since the legend of Argentina quickly rose to greatness.
Rank: hit
After becoming a basic element of the Tenaz midfield of Atlético Madrid, Saul put Paper in a large nine-year agreement in 2017 that saw the then 22 years hired to the club until 2026. But it did not spend much time before he fell with the manager Diego Simeone and was transferred to Chelsea for an irremediable spell in 2021-22 and then spent last season last season of last season, last season of last season of last season of last season, last season. He finished 17th in LaLiga.
At the same time, the partner of the center of the Saul Campo, Koke, also had five years in his existing agreement to keep it until 2024, and since then he has signed a couple of extensions of one year to keep it until 2026. The 33 -year -old Atlético, Atlético, 39 times last season, that worked better.
Rank: hit, almost
Another star of LaLiga Gven, a nine -year contract, the old man of the Williams brothers agreed a vast contract with Athletic Club in 2019 that could see the front versatile play his entire career in San Mamés.
Any interested club that wishes to hunt furtive fighters to the 31 -year -old now will have to touch the cold 135 million euros to activate its release clause.
Rank: hit
2:37
Haaland: dear defenders, I'm here to stay
Erling Haaland has a message for all defenders after the 24 -year -old signed a new long -term agreement in Man City.
Haaland put Paper to paper in a new and lucrative extension of the contract of 9 and a half years in City in January after hitting 111 goals in his first 126 games for the club.
The Prolific Norwegian striker won two successive titles of the Premier League and Golden Boot Awards in his first two seasons in England to “only” gather 34 goals in 48 appearances in what proved to be a relatively seasonal season 2024-25 for the Pep Guardiola team.
Even so, we believe that both parties are still perfectly happy with their long -term commitment.
Rank: hit
A precursor to the Mega agreements that we witness regularly today, Denílson became the most expensive player in the world when Real Betis disbursed a rate of 30 million euros for him after the 1998 World Cup.
The extreme of Brazil of then 20 years agreed to a gigantic contract of 10 years, but finally had problems delivering, without maintaining any consistent form and leaving LaLiga for Bordeaux six years later (two of the loan spent on São Paulo) with only seven goals in its name.
Rank: Miss
In gratitude for his exemplary service years, Barcelona presented to Iniesta a “life contract” in October 2017, a gold agreement designed to keep the 33 -year -old midfielder in Camp Nou for the rest of his career.
Six months later, he rose sticks and moved to the Japanese club Vissel Kobe, and Barça wondered if he had mistakenly assumed that his contract was simply symbolic.
Rank: Miss
Real Madrid was so interested in Casillas and Raúl remained in the Bernabéu for the rest of their careers that the couple received “contracts for the rest of their sports lives” in 2008.
The Casillas Agreement was a huge nine -year agreement, while Raúl (30 years at that time) added a year to his existing contract.
However, both agreements included a rolling clause that would automatically add an additional year to the contract if the player in question managed to make 30 appearances in the previous season.
To be fair, both players definitely spent their best years with Whites, Although both left the club long before the end of their respective “sports lives”, Casillas A FC Porto and Raúl to Schalke, which makes the whole gesture a gesture. President Florentino Pérez's comments on the couple have come to light, and maybe now we know why.
Rank: Miss
