FCBARCELONA.CAT

23.10.2009 12:59

Puyol agrees new contract

www.fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona Carles Puyol have reached an agreement in principle for the club captain to renew his contract until 2013 and once all the conditions are put down on paper a deal will be signed in the next few days.

The 31-year-old defender's current deal runs out on June 30, 2010, but once he has put pen-to-paper on the new one he will be tied to the club for a further three years.

Pep Guardiola and Puyol told the rest of the players about the news before the first-team squad began training on Friday morning at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper complex. The squad huddled into a circle before applauding the announcement and congratulating Puyol on the move.

Ten trophies

After joining the club's youth ranks in 1995, Puyol made his official first-team debut on October 2, 1999 away at Real Valladolid. That day few people would have predicted that ten years later he would be club captain and would have won no less than ten major trophies, including two European Cups, three league titles and the Copa del Rey.

Making history

'Puyi', as he is known, exemplifies the sacrifice, commitment and spirit of being a leader of FC Barcelona. He is fourth in the club's all-time appearance list with 451 official games played and th second in the list of European appearances, with 104, behind Xavi Hernández. He has scored seven goals for the first team, with his most well-known coming in the 2-6 win against Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabéu last season.

Key player

Retaining a fundamental role in Pep Guardiola's plans, the defender has started in six of the club's seven league games this term and i played in two of the three Champions League matches.