Lionel Messi's Barcelona contract delayed by La Liga financial rules: Club president Joan Laporta

Barcelona president Joan Laporta says La Liga's financial fair play rules are holding up Lionel Messi signing a new deal with the club.

Barcelona's attempts to offer Lionel Messi a new contract are being held up because of La Liga's financial control measures, the club's president, Joan Laporta, said on Thursday after the Argentine became a free agent. Messi, who joined Barca aged 13 in September 2000, has no current contractual link with the Catalans after his deal expired on June 30 and while Laporta said the club's all-time top scorer wishes to stay, he added their attempts to tie him to a new deal had to fit with the league's requirements.