Joan Laporta insists Lionel Messi will stay at Barcelona
By Tom Gott
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed that contract talks with Lionel Messi are progressing well and he is certain that the Argentine will remain at Camp Nou beyond this summer.
Messi's current contract expires in two weeks and clubs from across the globe are keen to bring him in, but Barcelona have spent months convincing Messi to stay and have been working on a ten-year contract which also includes a spell in Major League Soccer and an ambassadorial role at the club.
Everything seems to be progressing in the right direction for Barcelona, and Laporta has now insisted to TV3 that it is simply a case of finalising all the details in Messi's new contract.
"I am very calm about Messi's continuity, Messi will continue at Camp Nou," he said. "It is wonderful to talk to him about the future. He has a winning character, his talent goes beyond his personality and he is a born winner. I do not contemplate and I do not consider a 'no' from Messi.
"We do what we can to keep him here, it would be impossible to accept that he leaves. We know that other teams who are in a stronger financial position than us want him, but we are working with skill and he is in favour of staying, so there is no need to convince him.
"The circumstances exist for him to continue and that is because he wants to. He wants to continue because he enjoys life here."
Despite all his confidence, Laporta did admit that a deal with Messi has not yet been agreed, but he stressed everything he has seen suggests a new contract will be finalised in the near future.
"I wish I could tell you that it is sorted, but it is not closed," he confessed. "The idea is that it closes as soon as possible because that suits us all.
"We do our best to make a competitive team that he is excited about. We signed Sergio Aguero, who is reminding Messi every day that he has not yet signed an extension. The sports project allows you to continue winning.
"Economically, Messi has made it very easy, but the problem is financial fair play.
"There are two dates that I would like to announce a deal on: One is his birthday (June 24), which would be a mutual gift to him and football, and the other is on my birthday, which is June 29. He is excited to stay and I hope it will be sorted soon."