MESS-MERISING AMOUNT!!! Lionel Messi demands £825,000-a-week from Barcelona

...as two parties continue to negotiate new deal

Five-time Ballon d'Or winner turned down offer in summer and club seek to appease him in areas other than just financially

LIONEL Messi has reportedly demanded £825,000-PER-WEEK at Barcelona.

And MARCA claims one of the reasons is they do not want to meet his astronomical wage demands.

The Catalan press, however, insist that while he did turn down the offer, he is still very much open to staying.

Barcelona would prefer not to pay Messi the staggering amount he is demanding — and are trying to appease him in other ways.

They include showing their ambition to win more titles by tying down his fellow stars to lengthy deals, and by guaranteeing he has a comfortable environment to continue playing in.

The sale of Dani Alves to Juventus in the summer did not go down well with the club’s legendary No.10.

However, Barca’s decision to hand out new deals to Javier Mascherano and Neymar has gone down well with the five-time Ballon d’Or winner.