"Messi is the best, I hope he comes to an agreement with Barça soon"

Messi's contract with Barca expired on 30th June. Since then, the club has been working on his renewal.

Joan Laporta, Barcelona's president, recently spoke about where Messi's future now stands. "Everything is going well, but in this football market sometimes you have to juggle," he said.

Koeman was the latest to refer to Messi's future. "He is very important for us, we saw that last season. He scored 30 goals, he gave a lot of points to the team. We hope that an agreement can be reached and that he can stay here for many years, also for the fans. We hope they can go and see the best player in the world live," he told Barcelona's official press.

"It's clear to me that he will stay. Although anyone in Barcelona would tell you that too. If you analyse his season, the 30 goals, the Copa America with Argentina... As I've already said, for me he's the best," he added.

And he spoke about the team he will have under his command in 2021-22. "It's good to have Eric Garcia back, he's a great signing. Depay has a great level. Barca is not Lyon, it's a bit more. It will give competitiveness at forward. And Agüero... we hope he can show his best version. Last season he suffered some injury, we will give him the chance to get to a high level and make the difference with Messi and Depay," he analysed.

He referred to the large number of strikers he has, although there may still be departures. "Hopefully Ansu Fati can come back, as well as Griezmann and Braithwaite. We have more players in attack, which will make for more competitiveness in these positions."

Finally, he praised Pedri, from whom he expects the best. "He had a fantastic season. Not everyone knew who he was when he started to get opportunities with the first team. He showed that, at 18, he can play for Barça. He played a great Euros and proved that he has a great talent. He is the future of the club", he concluded.