Talks are ongoing with Lionel Messi as he wants to stay and win trophies, asserts Joan Laporta

Contract speculations regarding Lionel Messi’s potential future at Barcelona has been doing the round for quite some time with several reports suggesting that his time at Camp Nou might be over owing to internal dissent between the board and him. Messi’s strict disapproval of the current stature of the club and lack of Barcelona’s long term ambitions have made him question his prospects and what else he could essentially achieve at 33 somewhere else.

Although these rumours still make the round, reports at ESPN suggests that the Catalans can heave a sigh of relief following positive talks between Messi, his father Jorge Messi and club president Joan Laporta. Messi is said to have been impressed with the current signings in Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia, Emerson Royal and the various potential incomings at the club. It has seen Laporta admit that talks are ongoing with the Argentine and they're going well but he did add they are not done yet.

"Talks are ongoing with Messi's people. As I have said, they're going well. We hope to keep making progress. It's not done but I am convinced, like Aguero said, that they would like to play together here. I have always said the issue with Leo is not financial for him. Messi is showing a lot of understanding and wants to stay and have a competitive team that wins trophies. The sooner we have a decision, the better, of course, but we're not in a rush," Laporta said, reported by ESPN.

"We lost the league and there will be consequences. That's the level of demand there has to be here. We want to improve the team and there will be more signings. We're working on it. We need to balance the squad, and you will see what we're working on soon. Next week there will be more news."