Barcelona legend Carles Puyol is confident former team-mate Lionel Messi can continue playing well into his 30s.

The Argentinian will turn 33 in June and has just one year remaining on his contract, but Puyol suggested Barca don't need to be planning for life without him just yet.

Per Marca's Joan Solsona, he said: "Messi is 32, and a player who takes care of himself like Leo does can play until he's 38. Why are we talking about a Barcelona without Messi when he's here now? What we have to do is try to win as much as possible with him."

Despite his age, Messi remains enormously effective at the Camp Nou. In 27 games this season, he has returned 19 goals and 16 assists.

By his own impeccable standards, he is enduring something of a goal drought, though, as Squawka's Muhammad Butt observed in Barca's 2-1 win over Getafe on Saturday:

However, he has made up for his unusual profligacy in front of goal with his unrivalled creativity:

He set up Antoine Griezmann with a delightful no-look pass against Getafe:

Barca should be concerned about Messi's future, though. His contract expires in 2021, and he can leave this summer for free thanks to a clause in it, according to the Guardian's Sid Lowe.

Despite a public spat with sporting director Eric Abidal earlier in February, it still seems unlikely Messi will leave the club anytime soon given his stated intention to retire at the Camp Nou. However, even if his long-term future at the club is secured, he will eventually decline, and Barcelona haven't managed to surround him with a team capable of adequately supporting him as he enters his twilight years.

Neymar looked set to be his heir before his departure to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, and the two arrivals his exit helped to fund—Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho—have not worked out.

The former has spent much of his time at the Camp Nou injured, while the latter was sent to Bayern Munich on loan in the summer after failing to impress.

The club also signed Frenkie de Jong and Griezmann last summer. They have yet to set the world alight, either, although they are still adapting—and De Jong is only 22, so the jury is still out on them.

Barcelona have won 10 La Liga titles since Messi made his debut in the 2004-05 season, as well as six Copas del Rey and four UEFA Champions Leagues. Messi can still play a key role to help the team to add to those tallies in the coming years, but the club needs to recognise he will be less capable of doing it all on his own.