Lionel Messi could finalise his contract at Barcelona this week, after months of speculation about the global superstar’s future.
The Argentina international still remains a free agent after leaving his contract with Barca at the beginning of July. The Spanish side are having to free up their wage bill as per La Liga rules on salary caps, leaving their iconic star player without an official club for the time being.
But now reports suggest that Messi could wrap up a fresh deal with the Catalan side this week.
According to Mundo Deportivo via Forbes, Barcelona president Laporta is currently ploughing through the last parts of the long-awaited deal today, and the hope is Barcelona can unveil Messi’s new contract tomorrow.
There is still the issue of getting Messi registered with La Liga – it’s a hugely unlikely prospect but as it stands Messi would not be able to feature for Barca even if the new deal is signed.
The same goes for all four of the club’s new signings, who have each signed a deal but cannot actually register with the Spanish league.
Laporta calls for calm
President Laporta touched on the thorny issue of new signings during a press conference in which the club officially unveiled Emerson Royal.
“We are in the process of getting Messi to stay. He wants to stay at Barça and we have to make sure that happens” he said via Barcelona’s official site.
“We all want Messi in La Liga because he is a world class player, the best in the world, and he clearly helps to promote the league. I know Leo wants to stay and appreciate that highly. Everything is very much on the right track.”
“We have hit some major obstacles, but we have time to make things possible,” he continued.
“I’m optimistic because everything has gone so very well. With the new signings and the youth players we are putting together a competitive squad. We’re bringing in talent to make the squad more competitive. The preseason has been highly promising, but there is still a chance we might add something else.”
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