The things that add credibility to this for me are a) Xavi seemingly wants to keep him at all costs, b) their supporters want to keep him, and that's important for their elected president, c) there was an apparently very reliable Barcelona journalist who has said all along that he is definitely not leaving and d) FdJ has said he's never been told he's leaving and that he doesn't want to leave. Plus saying he's already at the biggest club in the world is an odd thing to say if you think you are about to leave for another club that thinks they're the biggest.
All these things have given me enough pause for thought throughout, along with the sheer length of time it's took to just get to a stage where we've not even agreed fees or discussed the players wages.