The President of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, does not want conflicts with Lionel Messi

The president of FC Barcelona, Josep Maria Bartomeu, said this Saturday that he does not want a "conflict" with his captain Lionel Messi, who expressed his desire to leave the team, not hiding his discontent with the board before taking a step back.

"I will not enter into conflict with Leo. He is our captain and our leader," Bartomeu said to regional television TV3 before the friendly match won 1-0 against Elche in the Joan Gamper Trophy.

"He speaks on the field. It is a closed matter. I could not allow, like no one from the board or coaching staff, the best in the world to leave," he said.

Messi decided to continue at Barcelona to avoid a legal conflict with the club, as he explained earlier this month to Goal.com, but he criticized the board, accusing Bartomeu of not keeping his word of letting him leave if he so requested.

The Argentine star is entering his last year of contract and, if there is no renewal, he would leave Barcelona as a free agent.

On the other hand, Bartomeu spoke about his internal problems to continue presiding over the club.

"The number has even surprised the promoters of the vote of no confidence," he admitted about the 20,000 gathered signatures for that removal process.

"We will continue doing what is right, with maximum transparency and rigor. The Board will work as always," President Bartomeu said to Barça TV.

"No one wants to resign. The club does not stop and we have a lot of work. We want to continue working, we will wait for the process," Bartomeu said again.