Barca's MSN are here to stay

Bad news for defences all over Europe. Barcelona are about to seal a sponsorship agreement with Qatar Airways for the 2016-17 season that wil allow the Catalan club to hand Neymar the new contract he has been promised. And with that, the world's finest forward line looks set to stay together and dominate for the foreseeable future.

Barca had been unable to renew Neymar's deal in recent months because the additional €8 million in wages would have taken the club's spending on salaries above the permitted 70 per cent of total income stipulated by Fifa Financial Fair Play regulations.

And even though the player himself has repeatedly said how happy he is at Camp Nou, the delay has led to speculation that he could move to another club able to pay him more money, with Real Madrid president Florentino Perez still a big admirer of the star he missed out on signing back in 2013.

Goal revealed on Friday that a new shirt sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways is now in the pipeline after a Barca delegation flew out to Doha for more talks on Wednesday.

"I think Neymar will end up signing a new contract," Barca boss Luis Enrique said earlier this week, and fans of the Blaugrana chanted "Neymar, stay!" during the Catalans' 3-1 win over Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou on Wednesday.

And the following day, the Brazilian revealed he has no intention of leaving Barcelona, saying he thought he would stay for many more years at the Catalan club.

"There is always debate about the renewal and everything," he said. "But I am very happy here and I have almost everything." And he added: "For me it's a great honour to form part of this forward line and to make history with them. I am a big fan of them (Messi and Suarez) as players and even more so as people."

Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi and Neymar da Silva Santos Junior celebrate with the trophy after winning the UEFA Champions League final. Photo: AFP File

Meanwhile, Barca have also budgeted to pay Messi the extra wages he is owed from the last two seasons, which will be spread over the next two years. Sources close to the Argentine revealed this week to Goal that the renewal agreement had seen the payments weighted - in order to help the club - so that he would receive more money in the second half of the deal.

Effectively, Messi will now be paid €42m over the next two years, but Barca have already contemplated that outlay in their budget and as things stand, all three of their forwards look set to remain at the club for some time to come.

Having already claimed the treble last season, Neymar revealed the Catalans are in search of another triple triumph this time around and the Brazilian has stepped up this term from his fantastic form of 2014-15.

So too has Suarez, taking his goal tally to 30 for the season on Wednesday (an amazing return in January), with Messi fresh from winning his fifth Ballon d'Or earlier this month.

So the MSN, it seems, are here to stay. Wonderful news for Barcelona. Ominous for everyone else.