Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font wants Pep Guardiola to return to the club and has “no doubt” Lionel Messi will stay.
Current president Josep Maria Bartomeu resigned earlier this week, along with his board of directors, ahead of an expected vote of no confidence next month.
It comes after months of widespread criticism over the club’s worsening finances and the team’s decline on the pitch, which came to a head with their 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals in August.
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Font has quickly become the frontrunner to succeed Bartomeu and exclusively told Sky Sports News he has a clear plan to bring back the glory days to La Liga giants involving the old Barca dynasty breathing new life into the current one.
“Replacing the best generation the world of football has ever seen, which I believe we have had over the last decade, is a big challenge,” Font said.
“Particularly at a time when competition is intense and many clubs are owned by very powerful owners.
“FC Barcelona also need a significant investment to rebuild the stadium and all in a world which has been hit with one of the worst crises ever (coronavirus).
“It is clear we need a very solid plan to meet these challenges and this is what we have been doing over the last few years.
“It is our intention to build a very strong and competitive project and we are very lucky at Barca that we inherited a style of play that Johan Cruyff instilled throughout the organisation.
“And most of the best professionals who know about this style are also fans and love the club – like Pep Guardiola, Xavi, Iniesta, Puyol.
“They are all legends that love Barcelona but do not work for Barca today – we need to bring them back to ensure we will have a very competitive project.
“The only thing Messi needs is to know he is part of a competitive project that aspires to win the next Champions League.
“We have no doubt that if we basically have the honour to take the helm of FC Barcelona we will be able to achieve that (Messi staying).”
Guardiola left Barcelona in 2012 and is currently Manchester City manager, but his contract at the Etihad Stadium expires next summer.
During his time at Barcelona he won 179 of his 247 games and won 14 major trophies with the club, including three La Liga titles and the Champions League twice.
