Barcelona President Expects Lionel Messi to Finish His Career as a 'One-Club Man'

​Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu expects Lionel Messi to stay at the Nou Camp for the rest of his career and retire as a one-club man.

Messi made his senior debut in professional football for Barcelona in 2004 and has made 646 appearances for La Blaugrana since then, scoring 560 goals.

His current contract expires in 2021 but Bartomeu expects him to stay long beyond that date.

"I think we will have him longer than that," he claimed in an interview with ​the Times. "He doesn’t want to leave. We always tell him he can be a one-club man. That is his project too. 

"Our project is not to sell our best players but, on the contrary, to bring new players with talent, to be more successful, more global, to bring more happiness to our fans. This is what we are doing."

Bartomeu also said that he would welcome Pep Guardiola back to the club. The Spaniard won seven major trophies in four seasons as Barca manager between 2008 and 2012.

Guardiola is the manager of ​Manchester City now but he has mentioned that he would like to return to ​Barcelona one day in a role with La Masia.

"He knows the door is always open for him. Even when he told us he wanted to leave in 2012, we suggested to him he could take care of La Masia," said Bartomeu.

"He preferred [a clean break]. Nobody told him to leave Barcelona. He could come back in future. He knows this. Why not?"

Barcelona, now managed by Ernesto Valverde, face Tottenham at Wembley in the Champions League on Wednesday.