Messi now waiting for Barca offer

Barcelona are now working on a new deal for Leo Messi. The '10's contract expires in June and he will be free to join any club from then on although he insisted he will not talk to anybody until the end of the season. 

The Catalans are working against the clock to try and persuade the striker. Nobody wants to think about a Barca team without Lionel Messi. 

'Esport3' reports that Joan Laporta, the club's new president, asked the Argentina international for a few weeks to prepare a new contract with which he could persuade the player to stay. 

Once the numbers have been drawn up, Barcelona will then be prepared to tell the player what their offer is. Leo Messi is waiting for that before deciding whether to renew or move elsewhere. 

Laporta, in fact, has reiterated publicly on numerous occasions that Leo Messi's contract renewal is a priority for the club. 

Barca are optimistic with regards to the Argentine. Talks between the club and the Barca captain's inner circle, on the trip to San Sebastian, have been positive, but nothing has been signed. 

Barcelona are clear that their sporting project will be what persuades Messi to stay. The club hope to do that by getting players of Haaland's calibre or Aguero and Depay. 

Other important cases

The same source also talks about the future of other players who are not as important as Messi, but still very important. One of those is Ousmane Dembele. 

The Frenchman's contract at Barcelona expires in June 2022. The club want to renew his contract as soon as possible. However, the Frenchman is keen to wait under the end of the season and focus on the rest of this campaign. 

Another of the players is Ilaix Moriba. The academy player has broken into the first team and is hoping his contract will be extended just like his B team teammate Alex Collado.