Messi already in Barcelona: Renewal imminent

Lionel Messi has returned to Barcelona having ended his holidays in Ibiza, and the Catalan club are now confident that the Argentine will have his new contract signed in a matter of hours.

The club and player agreed terms weeks ago, but it is only ready to become official now that the player is back in the city. The signing of the contract will then lead to Messi's return to training at Barcelona, having ended his holidays on Wednesday. His return has allowed the Blaugrana to breath a little more easily.

Messi will ratify the agreement reached three weeks ago, and will commit the next five years of his career to Barcelona. However, in the final three years he could play in the United States and become an ambassador for the Catalan club.

End of holidays

The No.10 has returned to Catalonia after his post-Copa America holidays came to an end, and his agent and father Jorge Messi plans to be in Barcelona before the end of the week, meaning the prolonged soap opera is finally set to end almost a year after the player announced his intentions to leave the Camp Nou.

He is expected be involved as Barcelona are presented at the Joan Gamper Trophy this coming Sunday.

The agreement was only made possible thanks to the fact that Messi has reduced his salary by half and the economic injection received by LaLiga from the American investment fund CVC. Barcelona though, are still working to reduce their wage bill further as required by LaLiga.

As a result, Barcelona and LaLiga will keep one of the world's most valuable players in Spain. Messi, who has six Ballon d'Ors and six Golden Boots, will begin his 18th season in Spain's top flight as he looks to further cement his place in the record books.