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Frenchman Ludovicas Giuly will wear the jersey until the summer of 2008.
This was revealed on Wednesday afternoon, when the footballer extended his contract with the strongest European club of this year for another year. The player's previous contract was valid until June 2007.
The Catalan club also announced that the player's buyout clause remains unchanged. Any team wishing to have the Frenchman, nicknamed "Speedy Giuly," in their squad would have to pay 60 million euros.
After the season, teams interested in acquiring the player who can play both as a midfielder and forward included England's Liverpool and Lyon's Olympique. The possibility of seeing him in their line-ups was also being considered by Arsenal, Monaco, and Galatasaray.
The player's agent Alain Miggliacio confirmed that various options were being considered. However, when L. Giuly finally expressed his desire to stay at the Catalan club, according to the agent, he immediately reached an agreement on a new contract with "Barca" vice-president Ferran Soriano and sports director Txiki Begiristain.
The desire to continue having the Frenchman in their squad was also expressed by Barcelona's coach Frank Rijkaard.
"Lyon and Liverpool were very interested in me. Lyon even made the most tempting offer and the possibility of returning to France, but 'Barcelona' is my priority and I decided to stay," said L. Giuly to journalists.
In 2004, "Barcelona" acquired the Frenchman from "Monaco" for about 6.5 million euros and signed a three-year contract with him.
The past season was the most memorable of the Frenchman's entire career: the Catalan team became the Spanish champions for the second year in a row, and later won the Champions League title.
Playing successfully, L. Giuly became the hero of the semifinals. In the match in Milan, after a brilliant pass by Ronaldinho, he scored the only goal that opened the way for "Barca" to the final.
Not invited to the French national team this year, L. Giuly should join the team on July 17, when the Barcelona players who did not participate in the World Cup will gather for training camp.
It is worth noting that "Barcelona" also extended the contract last week with the captain of the Mexican national team, Rafael Marquez. The Mexican will represent the Catalan team until 2010.
