Barcelona have hit a 'significant obstacle' in extending Lionel Messi's contract as the club continue to struggle with reducing their wage bill, according to ESPN's Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens.
If Barca fail to comply with La Liga's wage cap, they won't be able to register the Argentine's new contract despite Leo's willingness to stay at Camp Nou.
It also applies to registering the club's summer signings Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia and Emerson Royal.
The Catalans have to submit Messi's new deal and their new arrivals to the league before August 31 but they want the situation to be resolved by the 2021/22 matchday 1 on August 15.
Even though the likes of Konrad de la Fuente and Francisco Trincao left the club earlier this summer, the Blaugrana have struggled to offload their highest earners so far.
Barca's director of football Mateu Alemany has met with Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Sergi Roberto to discuss pay cuts but none of the trio has accepted the idea.
Antoine Griezmann, meanwhile, also doesn't want to take a wage cut. The Frenchman also only wants to return to Atletico Madrid this summer but Barca's talks with the Rojiblancos have stalled lately.
Miralem Pjanic and Samuel Umtiti, in turn, have been told to find themselves new clubs. However, none of the clubs interested are willing to match their Barca earnings.
Philippe Coutinho and Neto, for their part, could also stay at Camp Nou beyond the summer as the Catalans don't want to sell the former on the cheap while Ronald Koeman has some fears over letting Marc-Andre ter Stegen's backup go.
