Lionel Messi is on the verge of signing a new two-year contract with Barcelona, according to reports.
Messi’s future has been up in the air for around 12 months, since the Argentina international attempted to depart the club last summer.
Barcelona managed to keep hold of him for another season, but Messi is now just weeks away from becoming a free agent.
Manchester City and PSG are among the clubs keeping close tabs on the 33-year-old’s situation.
But according to AS, Messi is edging ever closer to agreeing an extension to keep him in Catalonia.
Barcelona are hopeful that their greatest ever player will put pen to paper before the Copa America begins in Brazil on June 13.
The return of Joan Laporta for a second spell as president has helped Barcelona convince Messi to stay put.
The signing of Sergio Aguero, his room-mate on international duty, will also have done the Blaugrana no harm.
“Messi’s contract renewal does not depend on the audit,” Laporta said on Tuesday, addressing Barcelona’s well-publicised financial troubles.
“I said the other day that talks are going well and they are progressing. We more or less have the results of the club audit.
“For this operation we set aside a reserve and we prepared a strategy. We want to make him an offer. Things are going well, but it is not a done deal yet.
“The thing with Leo is that it is not a matter of money from his side. From our side, we know the limits of the possibilities we have and he is showing a lot of understanding. He wants to stay and we will try our best to make that happen.
“We are ready and the sooner the better. Because that way the doubts will be dispelled and we can go about building the team more quickly.
“The sooner we have everything in place the better, because there is enthusiasm to get it settled and the relationship we have is good.”
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