Barcelona Transfer News: Latest on Lionel Messi's Future and Neymar Rumours

Lionel Messi has cast his long-term La Liga career in doubt, with the Barcelona icon refusing to count out playing in a different league in future. 

The Argentina wizard was asked by Guillem Balague for Yahoo Sport if he sees himself playing abroad at some stage, replying: "I don’t want to look too far ahead. I live for the moment, and at this moment, I am with Barcelona in the Spanish League where I have made my living and where I live very well."

The lack of conviction in Messi's answer will once again stir the melting pot of rumours surrounding the superstar, with the world's top sides always interested in the player.

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Messi's season has been cut down by injury, but the attacker started the campaign well for the Blaugrana as they defend their treble title success. 

The player appeared in six La Liga games, scoring three goals and assisting twice, according to WhoScored.com.

Messi was optimistic about his return to Barca's first-team, saying to Balague he's in a strong frame of mind regarding the healing process: "[I'm] upbeat, wanting to get on with my recovery. Being injured is the worst feeling in the world for a sportsman, but right from the start I accepted that I had an injury and that the only thing to do was to recover from it the best way possible. The most important thing for me is to be at 100 per cent fitness."

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Chelsea were linked with Messi at the start of the summer transfer window, with George Bellshaw of Metro saying "the Blues have dreamt of signing [Messi]," but had received no indication he would ever leave Barca. 

However, club vice-president Javier Faust admitted it would be difficult to stop their top players leaving for oil rich teams, with the taxation system in Spain hamstringing finances, per Bellshaw: "Today, we are no longer able to do that. Chelsea and PSG pay better. You have to understand: players always compare their net salary. What we pay here in Spain has the highest tax burdens in Europe. We have to increase our salaries greatly to still be competitive. So yes, we lose players just for the money."

Messi is unlikely to be inclined to leave Barca soon, admitting he is happy at the Catalan team, but the wages on offer could see him tempted by teams like Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain in future. 

Neymar on PSG Radar

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Ligue 1 title holders PSG are motivated to add one of the elite players in Europe to their squad, with rumours suggesting Neymar has now been added to their growing list of targets. 

Le Parisien (h/t football writer Robin Bairner) believes the French champions could move for the Brazilian if their pursuit of Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo falls flat: 

Neymar has spent his time at Barca in the shadow of Messi, with PSG able to give the attacker more responsibility within their ranks as they chase the Champions League.

However, in Messi's absence, it has been Neymar who has offered his side leadership according to his Barcelona team-mates, per Sky Sports, with defender Marc Bartra saying: "I think it is the case that Neymar has taken up a roll where he participates more in the build-up of play with Messi not there. He is playing well, and with the quality that we have in attack, it is important that players like he and Suarez keep scoring the goals for us."

Messi and Neymar have been central to Barcelona's success, especially last year during their run to the treble. Manager Luis Enrique would find it impossible to replace their flair and influence, meaning any move away would surely involve a world-record fee. 

But if Barca stay competitive in both Spain and Europe, it is questionable why either would be currently tempted by a move away, unless it was motivated by an incredible set of wages that the Camp Nou club simply couldn't offer the duo.