Sandro Rosell: Lionel Messi will not leave Barcelona as long as I am president - Goal.com

Sandro Rosell - Barcelona

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has stressed that Lionel Messi will not leave the Champions League holders as long as he is in charge of the club.

The 24-year-old attacker has developed into a double Ballon d'Or winner since making his official first-team debut at Barca in October 2004 and Rosell has made it clear that Messi is indispensable to the club.

"At Barcelona, there are many things that are not for sale at any price, and Messi is a person who is just that for us," Rosell was quoted as saying by Sport.

"As long as I'm the president at Barcelona, and he does not want to leave, Leo will continue to be a Barca player. If it were up to me, he would never leave the club."

Messi has already stated more than once that he is keen to stay with the Blaugrana for many more years, and a transfer seems very unlikely.

The Argentine international has a contract with the Camp Nou side until the summer of 2016.

Every Friday through to January, Goal.com will publish extracts from Graham Hunter's highly-anticipated book, 'Barca: The Making of the Greatest Team in the World'. Last Friday's second extract was about how Joan Laporta and Sandro Rosell used David Beckham as a vote-winner in the club elections of 2003, even though a deal was already done between Manchester United and Real Madrid.