Abidal commits to Barca

Defender Eric Abidal has signed a new contract with Barcelona which will keep him at Camp Nou until at least the end of next season.

After months of negotiations between the two parties, the French international has signed a deal which ties him to the Catalan club until the summer of 2013 but that can then be renewed on an annual basis for two further seasons.

“The agreement includes an option to extend it through to 2015,” the statement on the Barcelona website said.

Abidal, who would have been a free agent at the end of the season, was linked with a number of top European clubs as the talks over a contract extension dragged on for four months but the versatile defender had always maintained that he wanted to stay with Barcelona.

The 32-year-old Abidal, who successfully underwent surgery on a tumour on his liver last year, arrived at Camp Nou from Lyon in 2007.

Abidal, capped 60 times for his country, has made 177 appearances in four years at Barcelona, winning the Champions League twice and the Spanish title three times.