Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has rejected claims he is thinking of resigning whilst defending his record in the role.
Having initially inherited the job from the resigning Sandro Rossell, Bartomeu fought off the challenge of Joan Laporta in the summer of 2015 to retain the presidency, but has come in for criticism in recent months for supposed abandoning the club’s value.
"To all those that have suggested the board and I are thinking of resigning, I tell them that we have no intention of doing so,” Bartomeu told the club’s senate on Tuesday.
"From some sectors the ability of this board to run the club has been brought into question. We have been accused of not protecting the model and of only being administrators.
"We do not mind, given how football is nowadays, being considered good administrators, however, we are not losing the essence of the Barca model.
"I would like, when we speak of the model, that it is done seriously and not just focused on a style of play, which we obviously want to maintain as it is part of our very essence.
"I would prefer that we talk about the model of the club, something that develops, improves and enriches itself every day.
"We're in the era of Barca. In terms of titles, the way we play and having the best players, we're a reference point [in football].
"In the last three years we've won eight out of 11 trophies and that could be 10 out of 13 if we win the league and the cup this season.
"All while we've had to tackle the departure of one of the best managers in the world in Pep Guardiola, Xavi [Hernandez] leaving, the death of Tito Vilanova, who was set to be a great manager, and a transfer ban from FIFA."
