Joan Laporta has insisted Lionel Messi wants to stay at Barcelona, despite the president of the club's management committee admitting the Argentine should have been sold in the summer.
Laporta is running to become Barca president again, having previously held the position between 2003 and 2010, appointing Pep Guardiola as manager and overseeing Messi's rise to become one of the greatest players of all time in one of the most successful periods of the club's history.
With Messi's contract expiring at the end of the season, there has been plenty of debate among presidential candidates over how best to resolve the situation - especially after the player handed in a transfer request last summer.
President of Barcelona management committee Carles Tusquets has admitted this week that finances at the Nou Camp are in such a poor state that Messi should have been sold after his transfer request, with Manchester City said to be the most likely buyer.
He told RAC 1: "Financially speaking, I would have sold Messi last summer. It would have been desirable, for what they'd have taken in and what they'd have saved."
Yet Laporta has shot down this idea, arguing that Messi still wants to remain at Barca, provided his desire for a more competitive team is met.
"Leo wants Barcelona," Laporta told Radio Marca.
"What I want is to give him back his happiness. It's not just a question of money, you have to create a competitive team.
"Leo has been cheated and that is a big loss. He's a winner and can't stand to see other teams lift the Champions League.
"The last time I spoke to him was in October. I am very grateful to him for all he has done for Barcelona. I have known him since he was 16 years old and he is an extraordinary person.
"There is mutual appreciation and respect.
"We must be inside the club to make an imaginative and credible proposal to him."
He added: "Leo wants to have a squad that brings back the joy. A team like Barcelona needs team spirit in a dressing room. I've been president of Barcelona and I don't want to destabilise a team in a delicate situation."
