MADRID, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Leo Messi arrived back in Barcelona on Wednesday with his future at FC Barcelona still up in the air.

The Argentinean striker left the city 63 days ago to join the Argentina squad to prepare for their triumphant campaign in the Copa America and since the end of the tournament, which saw them beat Brazil in the final, he has been on holiday in Miami and the Caribbean.

However, despite the optimism at the Camp Nou, it is now 28 days since his contract with Barca expired and despite rumors that both Messi and the club had reached agreement over the terms of his new deal, nothing has so far been signed and in theory he could still move somewhere else.

Although Messi has accepted an important reduction in wages according to the Spanish sporting press, the big problem is fitting his wages into the club's wage structure so that it does not breach the strict financial fair play regulations put into place by La Liga.

Messi also wants to ensure the contract is watertight to avoid any further problems with Spanish tax authorities.

Barcelona's president Joan Laporta has invested a lot of his credibility in Messi's contract renewal telling the press on several occasions that the club wanted him to continue and in the presentation of Memphis Depay last Thursday, Laporte insisted that Messi "has always insisted that he wants to stay, there is no doubt about that with Leo."

"We are progressing with all the negotiations over the contact; it is something we all want, and we are not hiding our wish for him to stay," said Laporta.

There are two key dates in the calendar: the first of which is on August 2nd, when the players who participated in the Copa America (Kun Aguero, Emerson Royal and Messi) are due to report back for training, and the logical thing would be for the contract to be signed by then.

If that doesn't happen, then there will be further doubts about Messi's future and even if he does sign his contract in the following days, there is very little chance for him being fit enough to start the new season, when Barca entertains Real Sociedad on August 15th. Enditem

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