Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has said he would like to 'stay longer' at the club, despite Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font claiming he would want to bring him back to the Nou Camp if he is elected.
The City boss is in the final year of his contract at the Etihad Stadium and speculation over his future is likely to increase as the season goes on.
Font, thought to be the leading candidate to be the next Barcelona president following the resignation of Josep Bartomeu, has expressed a desire to take Guardiola back to the Nou Camp.
Asked about this, Guardiola said: 'I am incredibly happy here. I'm delighted to be in Manchester and I hope I can do a good job this season to stay longer.'
Font cited the Man City boss as one of the most influential figures in the Catalan club's history, along with some of the club's legendary players, following his successful four-year reign from 2008 to 2012.
Font told Sky Sports: 'We are lucky at Barca that we inherited a style of play that Johann Cruyff instilled in the organisation, not just in the first team but throughout the academy and therefore most of the best professionals that know about this style are Barcelona fans.
'People like Pep Guardiola, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, all these people do not work for Barca today. It does not make sense. We need to bring them back and give them the right responsibilities because not everyone is able to play any role outside of the pitch.
'By doing that we are sure we will have a very competitive project, which is the only thing Messi needs. He needs to be in a competitive project that aspires to win the next Champions League. That should be the objective of any Barca board, right?
'We have an advantage with these sort of legends. All of them love the club. It's not like Manchester United wanting to go after this type of talent.
'They could because they are one of the greatest clubs in the history of the club but they lack one thing that we have and that is that all these legends love Barca.'
Font was the first to throw his hat into the ring for the vacant president position but he is expected to face competition from Joan Laporta, who oversaw the club's greatest period under Guardiola and has an excellent relationship with Messi.
Josep Bartomeu announced his resignation earlier in the week, with question marks over manager Ronald Koeman's future in the hot seat.
Messi was close to leaving the club this summer following a bitter dispute with the club hierarchy but eventually agreed to stay and work under the new boss.
The Argentine was linked with a move to Man City, to link up with former boss Guardiola, but Barca insisted that his astronomical £625million release clause must be met in order for him to leave.
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