Lionel Messi's father makes big announcement about Barcelona contract renewal

Lionel Messi's father has told Cadena Ser "there is no danger" that his son will not renew his contract with Barcelona, despite rumours over his future. The Spanish radio station claims negotiations with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu over a new deal have already started, and early indications are positive.

Neymar, Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets and Javier Mascherano have all put pen to paper on new deals at the Nou Camp in recent months but Messi is yet to follow, despite his current contract expiring at the end of next season.

Last week Barcelona chief executive Oscar Grau provided a controversial update on the affair, saying that Barcelona need to use "common sense" to reach an agreement as they cannot offer the Argentine a blank cheque.

Luis Suarez later hit back at the CEO, saying they need to forget about common sense and make every effort to keep Messi at Barcelona. The five-time Ballon d'Or has already scored 27 goals in 24 appearances inthe 2016-17 campaign and remains the club's talisman.

Controversy continued after Barcelona sacked Pere Gratacos as head of Sports Institutional Relations with the Spanish Football Federation after he appeared to play down Messi's importance to the club.

Messi seemed to calm Barcelona fans' fears on Wednesday after being quoted telling Coach magazine that he would stay at Barca for "as long as they want me" – only for his entourage to reveal that the interview was fake.

But now Messi's father has finally provided some clarity after giving an encouraging update to Radio Station Cadena Ser.

Manu Carreño, the presenter of the Spanish popular Radio Show El Larguero, revealed that he spoke to Messi's father on Wednesday and told his listeners: "The negotiations have already started between Bartomeu and Jorge Messi. They have started talks by telephone because Messi's father is not in Spain. He is calm because everything is going very well. A schedule has been set to close the renewal and Messi's father has told us that there is no danger that Messi will not renew with Barcelona. He did not want to make public comment but he has transmitted these messages to us."