Barcelona Transfer News: Latest on Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta Contract Rumours

Barcelona will be forced to offload one of their big-name players this summer if they are to raise the funds needed to meet the contract demands of Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta, according to Xavi Hernandez for Marca.

Ivan Rakitic, Aleix Vidal, Jeremy Mathieu, and Arda Turan could all be made available at the end of the season.

Both Messi and Iniesta are out of contract in 2018. Despite being keen on remaining at the Camp Nou, they are yet to put pen to paper, and Messi has still not been offered a new deal, according to Marca:

Financial constraints appear to be the stumbling block in negotiations, with Messi reportedly expecting a huge pay rise, per AS (via Fox Sports), in line with contracts recently offered to Neymar and Luis Suarez.

The Brazilian's wages were tripled in October, and Suarez is now on €16 million per season, as noted in Marca's report.

It has now emerged that these deals have put Barcelona in a difficult situation, which can only be resolved by selling one of their star players. The news will come as a major blow to manager Luis Enrique, whose team already look short on squad depth in 2016-17.

Barcelona, who sit two points behind La Liga leaders Real Madrid having played a game more than their rivals, are in danger of becoming overly reliant on their famous "MSN" partnership. Neymar, Messi and Suarez have scored 35 league goals between them this season, a whopping 68 percent of the team's total.

Rui Vieira/Associated Press

However, selling key players to accommodate the bigger stars is arguably Barcelona's only option, given that Iniesta and Messi are irreplaceable and clubs in Spain are only allowed to spend 70 percent of their budget on wages, per Marca.

News of Rakitic's availability will likely be welcomed by Manchester United, who have been linked with the Croatian recently.

Jose Mourinho is desperate to sign Rakitic for £35 million, per Jeremy Cross for the Daily Star, although Rakitic has since denied the reports and said "my dream is to stay [at Barcelona] forever," per Mundo Deportivo (h/t Sky Sports).

The easiest option for Barcelona could be to let Turan move to China. The Turkey international is wanted by Guangzhou Evergrande for £44 million, per Sport (h/t Toby Gannon for The Sun).

Manu Fernandez/Associated Press

Potential suitors for Mathieu and Vidal are less clear, although Vidal was reportedly wanted by Liverpool last summer. The Catalan club demanded the Reds trigger his £45 million release clause, per Mundo Deportivo (h/t Liam Corless for the Mirror).

Keeping Messi and Iniesta at the club is essential, but it is just as important to ensure that their lengthy contract discussions do not prove distracting.

With Barcelona already behind in the league and ahead of a tough Champions League round-of-16 match against Paris Saint-Germain, the last thing they need is for more players to begin planning for a future away from the Camp Nou.