Barcelona want to keep Lionel Messi at the club until he is 36 and believe his happiness off the pitch is as vital to him signing a new contract as his enjoyment of football.
Barcelona newspaper Mundo Deportivo reports that Messi, 31, has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave for free in 2020 if he does not sign with another major European team.
China, Japan and Qatar will all be lining up to take advantage of this opportunity. And Barcelona are concerned that he will follow Xavi to Doha to play for Al-Sadd, as well as Andres Iniesta, who travelled to Japan last summer to join Vissel Kobe in the J1 League.
Lionel Messi remains the king of Barcelona, adored by 100,000 fans at the Camp Nou every game and millions more around the world.
Messi can lead a normal life there. He can even walk to the local school to pick up his children, often with Luis Suarez, who lives in the same complex and has children of similar ages.
The Bellamar area, a coastal village south of Barcelona with four miles of beaches nestled in the hills overlooking the Mediterranean, has long been the preferred enclave of prominent local athletes.
Neymar, Javier Mascherano and basketball great Pau Gasol have all owned properties here. Philippe Coutinho arrived last year from Liverpool. Suarez joked last year that Messi is a good neighbour with “excellent security, which benefits us all”.
In the luxury of your own home, you can play with your kids on the tiny floodlit football pitch in the backyard, relax by the pool, gaze out at the ocean, and even enjoy the occasional barbecue – though not too often if you want to advance your career.
Messi reads with Thiago (left) and the couple have breakfast with Mateo during visits inside the family home in Barcelona.
The family poses outside their beautiful home in the luxurious gated community of Bellamar, on the city’s southern coast.
Messi’s connection to Argentina will always be strong, but while his brothers Rodrigo and Matías, younger sister María Sol and parents Celia and Jorge spend a lot of time in Rosario, particularly with his mother and sister, Messi is increasingly settling into his chosen country.
There are still annual trips to Buenos Aires, followed by a 200-mile drive from the city to Rosario, but today his family is as likely to come to him as he is to them.
Former Argentina captain Juan Sebastian Veron once claimed that Messi would stay in his room at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa when Argentina’s hotel was packed with visiting relatives. Now that he has a family, he is more likely to be the centre of attention at social gatherings.
The fact that Messi’s roots at Barcelona have grown deeper with time has made clubs more willing to reveal that they tried and failed to sign him at some point in the past.
That’s according to Manchester City chairman Khaldoon al Mubarak. When asked if there was any player he had tried to sign but failed, he replied to loud applause: ‘Messi’.
And just as Messi has never been interested in moving elsewhere in Europe, he appears to have ruled out a return to South America for the time being.
Diego Maradona recently spoke out against him, stating one of the reasons. Maradona expressed a bad image of Messi that persists in Argentina.
After growing up in Argentina, it’s no surprise that he’s a fan of grilling, but has had to cut back for health reasons.
Antonella shared a photo of Messi enjoying a nap on his huge sofa, filled with luxurious cushions.
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The Messi family counts as close friends Cesc Fabregas, a childhood friend at Barcelona, and his wife, Daniella.
The Messis are also very close to their current Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez and their families often spend holidays together.
