Iniesta set for Barca exit after making decision on future

The midfielder is set to make an announcement in the coming weeks, with it proving increasingly likely he will move to China or the Middle East

Andres Iniesta has made a decision over his future and it is a realistic possibility that he will leave in the summer, Goal understands.

The midfielder is seen as a legendary figure at Camp Nou, having come through the youth ranks and made over 650 appearances for the first team since his debut in 2002.

But he could decide that the time is right to leave Barca at the end of the season, with the 33-year-old due to inform his employers of his decision by April 30.

Iniesta signed a "lifetime" contract with the Liga leaders in October , but admitted last month that he is considering a summer departure and when he was asked after Tuesday's loss in Rome whether he had featured for the final time in the Champions League , he said: “It's possible.”

Goal has learned that Iniesta has concrete offers from clubs in and also from the Middle East.

Iniesta, who looked distraught on the sidelines as he watched the final few minutes of the game in the hope that Barcelona could score a goal to take them through to the semi-finals, can no longer sign off by winning a treble as team-mate and friend Xavi Hernandez did in 2015.

"I'm at the club of my life, the one that has given me everything and the warmth of the people," he told Cadena SER last month.

"This situation is not easy, but I also understand that I am at a certain age and things change.

“Other doors open that are exciting in many ways."

In the meantime, coach Ernesto Valverde has insisted that he wants Iniesta to stay at Barca, although Philippe Coutinho was signed from in January as a long-term replacement for the star, who turns 34 in May.

Sources close to the player have revealed to Goal that there could be a change of mind at the last minute, with no announcement expected imminently and nothing likely to be made public until after he has transmitted his decision to the club at the end of this month.