Catalans aim to keep megastar despite interest elsewhere.
Check in to Villarreal vs FC Barcelona
Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu has confirmed that the club are currently working on putting together a new deal to keep Lionel Messi in Catalonia for the foreseeable future, according to Sky Sports.
Read More FC Barcelona News
Following an injury dogged campaign, the Argentine superstar has come in for criticism after failing to scale the heights of previous seasons and has subsequently been linked with making a move away from the club this summer with both Manchester City and Paris Saint Germain rumoured to be interested.
However, the president feels that the criticism of the 26-year-old has been harsh, and he insisted that the club will do everything they can to keep a hold of him.
“Messi is under contact until 2018,” Bartomeu told TV3.
“But we want to improve it to adapt to football’s current situation.
“I think people are being unfair on Leo Messi. He has led us to so many wins in recent years.
“He has led the team and done so very well and we have no doubt that he will continue to lead the club into the future.
“He’s a young player, the best in the world and we have every faith in him.”
Bartomeu did, though, insist that any announcement over Messi’s future would have to wait until the end of the season as nothing has been revealed yet.
“Some decisions have been made and there are others to be made,” He added.
“This is not the time to announce them because we are still playing in competition.
“There will be time for that in a few weeks.
“A lot of work has been done and it has all been good work. There won’t be a revolution, but there will be in-depth restructuring of the football team.”
SEE ALSO: The Fastest Players on Fifa 14