Topics: Football, Iker Casillas, Andres Iniesta, La Liga, Real Madrid, Barcelona
Four players in football history have signed a ‘lifetime’ contract, but only one of them actually honoured the agreement.
These days, contract lengths can range from one year to nine years, with Manchester City’s Erling Haaland penning a nine-and-a-half-year contract at the Premier League club back in January.
Meanwhile Chelsea’s Cole Palmer and Enzo Fernandez have signed nine-year deals in recent times.
But several clubs have gone a step further to pin down top-class talent.
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Four players in history have signed ‘lifetime’ deals at clubs, but just one went on to fulfil it.
Former Real Madrid forward Raul Gonzalez made 741 appearances for Los Blancos between 1994 and 2010 and signed a ‘lifetime’ contract at the club in 2008.
"Raúl's deal was due to expire in 2010, so we have added another year on to it, and after that there's a clause whereby he will automatically renew his contract for another season as long as he plays 30 competitive games,” said then Real president Ramón Calderón.
But eventually he moved on, signing for a German side Schalke, in 2010.
Two years later, he was on the move again and signed for Doha-based Qatari club Al Sadd before finishing his career in the States with New York Cosmos. Raul retired in 2015 and has since coached Real Madrid Castilla.
Also in 2008, iconic Spanish goalkeeper and Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas signed a similar deal to Raul with Calderón explaining how “Casillas, his contract has been extended [by six years] until 2016/17 and after that, as is the case with Raúl, he will automatically see his contract extended each season if he plays 30 competitive games”.
But the 2010 World Cup winner signed for Porto in 2015 and remained in Portugal until he retired in 2020.
The third player, Andres Iniesta, played for Real’s arch-rivals, Barcelona, during their period of dominance under Pep Guardiola between 2008 and 2012.
In 2017, Iniesta signed a ‘lifetime’ contract at Barca. A club statement at the time read: "Andres Iniesta signed a lifetime contract with FC Barcelona on Friday, in a deal that will keep him at the club for the rest of his career."
And like Raul and Casillas did, he too moved on, joining Japanese side Vissel Kobe in 2018, where he stayed for five years before finishing his career at Emirates Club in the United Arab Emirates in 2023/24.
But another ex-La Liga star did fulfil his contract.
Jesus Navas enjoyed two spells at Andalusian side Sevilla with a stint at Manchester City sandwiched in between.
Navas, who made 705 appearances for the La Liga outfit across his two spells, initially announced his departure from the club in May 2024.
But just two days later, the right-back agreed to extend his contract until December 31 of that year and donated his wages to charity.
The deal covered the rest of Navas’ playing days as well as his transition into other roles after his retirement, essentially keeping him at the club for life.
