Spanish champions Barcelona announced on Wednesday that the contract of playmaker Xavi will be extended for two more years until 2016, when he will be 36 years old.
Xavi, 30, was expected to sign the extension agreement later on Wednesday, a day before flying to South Africa with the Spanish World Cup squad.
He was outstanding in Tuesday’s 6-0 slaughter of Poland, bossing the midfield with his precise passing and positional sense.
The contract extension will automatically come into effect if Xavi plays in at least half of Barca’s matches between 2012 and 2014.
Xavi will almost certainly finish his career as the Barca player with most Liga appearances.
Up until now he has played 527 matches and is second in the all-time Barca list behind rugged defender Migueli, who turned out 553 times for the Catalans between 1973 and 1988.
Xavi, born in the Barcelona suburb of Tarrassa, joined the Barca youth sections at 11 and made his first team debut in 1998.
He has been a fixture for Spain since 2000 and was outstanding in the Euro 2008 triumph.
