The longest soccer contracts: Hits and misses

In light of Erling Haaland's huge new contract, we take a look at some of the biggest contracts in European football history and how they turned out.

Oihan Sancet, Dani Vivian (Athletic Club), 8 years

Athletic Club love to offer out long-term deals, given their transfer policy only allows them to sign players who are linked to the Basque region of Spain. Both are key players in the current squad and look worthy of their 2032 status.

Cesc Fàbregas (Arsenal), 8 years

Fàbregas signed an eight-year contract with Arsenal in 2006, as Arsène Wenger wanted to build his post-Invincibles team around the young Spain midfielder. 19 at the time, Fàbregas gave five good years to the Gunners before the magnetic pull of his DNA took him back to Barcelona in 2011. Although that move didn't really work out.

Mykhailo Mudryk (Chelsea), 8½ years

When it comes to the longest active contracts in world football, Chelsea currently have nine of the top 12 players listed on their books. Ukraine winger Mudryk arrived in January 2023 after completing a €70m (plus €30m in add-ons) transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk. He was reportedly hoping to join Arsenal at one point, but the offer of a lucrative 8½-year contract from the Blues was understandably enough to sway his judgement. Unfortunately, the speedy forward has yet to win over his doubters after failing to impress during a sporadic string of first-team cameos. And as if things weren't going badly enough, Mudryk also hasn't featured for Chelsea since early December after being provisionally suspended by the FA over an ongoing drug test issue.

Enzo Fernández, Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson (Chelsea), 9 years

Chelsea went big in their efforts to prize Palmer from Manchester City in the summer of 2023 and eventually got the young forward on board with a seven-year contract. Palmer proved an instant hit by scoring 25 goals during a successful debut season at Stamford Bridge which then concluded with the club hurriedly agreeing to tack another two years on the end of the 22-year-old's mega-deal, thus extending it to nine years. Fernandez impressed with Argentina at the 2022 World Cup and Chelsea made him the most expensive player in British football history in a €121m transfer designed to keep him tied to the club up until the summer of 2031. It's fair to say that the midfielder got off to a slightly underwhelming start at Stamford Bridge, given his lofty billing as the fifth most-expensive player of all time, but there has been tangible improvement since. The same goes for Jackson, who has started to hit the net with more regularity after arriving from Villarreal and signing an initial eight-year deal, before penning another two years on top. Other players currently on Chelsea's books with contractual obligations of seven years and above include Pedro Neto, Renato Veiga, Moisés Caceido, Filip Jörgensen and Aaron Anselmino.

Lionel Messi (Barcelona), 9 years

Messi signed nine different contracts during his time at Barcelona (the picture below is from 2014), but the longest was the nine-year deal he agreed in September 2005, a matter of months after breaking through into the first team. Messi was signed up until 2014 and doubled his wages in the process, but we think it's safe to say that Barca definitely got more than their money's worth as the Argentina legend quickly ascended to greatness.

Saúl Ñíguez, Koke (Atletico Madrid), 9 years

After becoming a staple of Atletico Madrid's tenacious midfield, Saúl put pen to paper on a huge nine-year deal in 2017 that saw the then 22-year-old contracted to the club until 2026. But it wasn't long before he fell out with manager Diego Simeone and was moved on loan to Chelsea (2021-22) and now Sevilla, where he will likely sign permanently in the coming months. At the same time, Saul's midfield partner Koke also had five years tacked onto his existing deal to keep him until 2024, and he signed another one-year option to keep him until 2025. The 33-year-old is still at Atletico and that worked out better.

Iñaki Williams (Athletic Club), 9 years

Yet another LaLiga star foisted with a nine-year deal, Williams agreed to a vast contract with Athletic Club in 2019 that could see the versatile forward play out his entire career at San Mamés. Put it this way, any interested club wishing to poach Williams from Bilbao will now have to stump up a cool €135m to trigger his release clause.

Denílson (Real Betis), 10 years

A precursor to the mega deals we regularly witness today, Denílson became the most expensive player in the world when Real Betis forked out a fee of €30m for him in the aftermath of the 1998 World Cup. The then-20-year-old Brazilian winger agreed a gigantic 10-year contract but ultimately struggled to deliver, failing to maintain any consistent form and leaving LaLiga for Bordeaux six years later (two of those spent on loan at São Paulo) with just seven goals to his name.

Andrés Iniesta (Barcelona), Lifetime

In gratitude for his years of exemplary service, Barcelona presented Iniesta with a "lifetime contract" in October 2017 -- a golden deal designed to keep the then-33-year-old midfielder at Camp Nou for the rest of his career. Six months later, he upped sticks and moved to Japanese club Vissel Kobe, with Barca left wondering if he'd mistakenly assumed their contract was merely symbolic.

Iker Casillas, Raúl (Real Madrid), Lifetime

Real Madrid were so keen for Casillas and Raúl to remain at the Bernabéu for the rest of their careers that the pair were both handed "contracts for the rest of their sporting lives" in 2008. Casillas' deal was an enormous nine-year agreement, while Raúl (aged 30 at the time) added one year to his existing contract. However, both deals included a rolling clause that would automatically add an extra year to the contract should the player in question manage to make 30 appearances the season before. In fairness, both players definitely spent their best years with Los Blancos, though both left the club well before the end of their respective "sporting lives" -- Casillas to FC Porto and Raúl to Schalke -- rendering the whole gesture a moot. President Florentino Pérez's comments about the pair have come to light, and perhaps now we know why.