Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu promises Andres Iniesta will sign new deal

Andres Iniesta will sign a new contract with Barcelona after reaching an agreement in principle with the player, according to club president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

Iniesta, who has been with the club since joining from Albacete as a 12-year-old in 1996, has entered the final year of his contract at the Nou Camp. Ernesto Valverde has informed the 33-year-old he is still very much part of his first-team plans, but the veteran Spain international and club captain admitted this summer that for the first time in his career, he is thinking about taking on a new challenge.

"I've experienced a lot of sensations I've not known before, but I think they are normal," he told El Pais. "It is a scenario which three years ago I could never have imagined. Let's say I am thinking about my future when before I wasn't."

Barcelona have endured a disastrous summer where they have lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain with doubts now creeping in over Lionel Messi's future with the Argentina international also now in the final year of his deal. While Messi's future remains unresolved, Bartomeu insists an agreement with Iniesta should be formally announced in the coming weeks.

"We already have an agreement in principle to renew his contract and we hope to finalise it in the coming weeks," Bartomeu told Mundo Deportivo. "We are waiting these days to keep talking but Iniesta is a player that we want to retire here and that he retires when he thinks he wants to retire.

"The idea is that he has an indefinite contract where it renews automatically every year until he thinks that he can retire or change."

Bartomeu has faced calls to resign this summer after the club's repeated failings in the transfer window which leaves them looking some way off arch-rivals Real Madrid.

Having failed to sign early targets Marco Verratti and Hector Bellerin, the club then lost Brazil superstar Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in a world record deal despite club vice president Jordi Mestre declaring he was "200%" sure the forward would not leave.

After signing former Tottenham Hotspur misfit Paulinho, the club abandoned their pursuit for Nice midfielder Jean Michael Seri despite having agreed a contract with the player, a move which infuriated both the player and the Ligue 1 side.

And despite general manager Pep Segura claiming the club were "close" to signing Liverpool playmaker Philippe Coutinho, the Catalan giants failed in their bid to bring the Brazilian to the club.