FC Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu said he does not wish to have any more disputes with captain Lionel Messi after the Argentinian reluctantly opted to stay at the club this month after failing to force through a move.

“I won’t get into any conflict with him. He’s our captain and the leader of our team,” Bartomeu told Catalan television network TV3 before the team’s 1-0 friendly win over Elche on Saturday. The club’s all-time leading scorer set up Barcelona’s only goal when he made a long pass to meet the run of Jordi Alba, who squared the ball for Antoine Griezmann to score in the third minute.

“I couldn’t let him leave the club, he is the best player of all time and the team needs him. Having Messi is a guarantee of success.”

Messi had complained earlier this month that Bartomeu had not fulfilled a promise to allow him to break his contract unilaterally and leave the club without a transfer fee, also lashing out at the president’s leadership.

But Bartomeu chose not to fire back against Barca’s all-time top scorer, instead praising Messi for turning a page and performing well in the team’s pre-season matches, including scoring twice in a 3-1 win over Girona last week.

“We have seen him do his talking on the pitch and we have moved on from the saga,” Bartomeu added. “We should congratulate ourselves for getting Messi to stay with us...”

Bartomeu said he has no intention of resigning after more than 20,000 club members signed a petition for his and the board to face a censure vote. “No one is thinking about stepping down,” he said.

On Thursday the group of club members wanting a change in the leadership handed in 20,687 signatures calling for a referendum over whether the board should be removed. That surpassed the 16,520 signatures needed to force the vote.