Lionel Messi 'very close' to renewing his contract at Barcelona says club spokesman

Barcelona spokesman Joesp Vives has confirmed the club are "very close" to renewing Lionel Messi's contract at Camp Nou.

The Argentine international's current deal will run down at the end of the next season. The talks over a new deal started as early as December 2016 and the two parties – the player and the club – are yet to reach an agreement.

Neymar, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets, Javier Mascherano and Ivan Rakitic have all committed their future by signing new deals earlier in the season. Technical secretary Robert Fernandez remains optimistic that Messi and Andres Iniesta would also sign new deals.

Earlier it was reported that Messi had rejected a new deal worth €30m and €35m (£25.41m-£29.65m) net per season. Neymar has already urged the club to hand him a new deal to Messi and Vives revealed the five-time Ballon d'Or winner is "very close" to renewing his contract.

"The renewal is very close and we hope to announce it soon, without further pressure," Vives told Sport, as quoted by Goal.com.

The new deal will see Messi earn a weekly wage of £485,000-a-week ($625,116 per week) after tax, according to TV3 show El Club de la Mitjanit via The Sun. The new deal will keep the 29-year-old at the Catalan club until 2022.

According to The Sun, Manchester City, newly crowned Premier League champions Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain were monitoring developments closely. However, Vives' latest comments suggest that Barcelona will tie down their star player to the club.

Meanwhile, Luis Enrique has already confirmed that he will step down from his position at Barcelona after the end of the season. Vives stressed that the club are in no rush to announce Enrique's successor.

"We are not rushing to announce a coach. We are at a crucial moment of the season and we have to be focused on the team to feel our support. There is no hurry or urgency to establish a date," he said.