Lionel Messi’s father and agent, Jorge, has hinted his son could stay at Barcelona after holding ‘fruitful’ talks with the club hierarchy on Wednesday.

According to TyC Sports in his homeland, as cited by TalkSport website, the 33-year-old is ‘90 per cent likely to stay’ in Catalonia beyond the close of the transfer window.

The Argentine publication adds that the player is also likely to sign a contract extension.

Messi handed over his transfer request to the club last month, claiming a clause in his contract would allow him to walk away for free.

Barca, however, rejected the request and told the player he can only leave if the interested team pay €700m ($833m) in transfer fees.

The row between the two parties started after Messi opposed some of the decisions the club was making.

These include the refusal by president Josep Bartomeu to buy back Neymar from PSG and the sacking of coach Ernesto Valverde in January.

Frustrations on the pitch also contributed with Barca finishing the 2019/20 season trophyless.