Madrid - European champions Barcelona are preparing to make Lionel Messi their best paid player, according to newspapers AS and Sport on Wednesday.

The sports dailies said that Messi, currently in the United States as the star attraction of Barca's summer tour, will shortly see his annual salary increase from around 8.5 million euros (12.24 million dollars) to around 10 million euros.

This will be Messi's fifth pay rise since he made his Barca debut in 2004, and shows just how important he has become to the Catalan giants. He will thus become the highest paid player at the club, earning slightly more than new signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

However, the new salary of the impish little Argentine will be slightly lower than that of Real Madrid new signing Cristiano Ronaldo, who will be the best paid star in La Liga.

Barca president Joan Laporta said on Wednesday from Seattle that "it is a pleasure for us to have him at Barca, because he is the best in the world... The club will always do what is necessary in order for him to be happy. His commitment to Barca is total."

Laporta refused to give details about Messi's new salary. "I will not talk about money," he said. "We want this agreement between the player and the club to be beneficial for all parties. He has emerged as a leader of the team."

It is expected that Barca coach Josep Guardiola will make Messi one of the club captains for next season, along with fellow youth products Carles Puyol, Xavi and Andres Iniesta. (dpa)