Javier Mascherano says Lionel Messi and Barcelona need each other amid the soap opera which has been generated by his ongoing contract renewal.
Comments from Oscar Grau and Pere Gratacos in the week led to new concerns over Messi's future, with the latter being stripped of his role as a director as a result, but Josep Maria Bartomeu called for calm on Saturday.
The Barca president said he will personally take care of negotiating Messi's new deal and reassured supporters that he expects the Argentine to commit his future to Camp Nou soon.
And Mascherano has now added his voice to the growing number of people who expect Messi to extend his stay at Barca beyond 2018, when his current terms are due to expire.
"I have no doubt that both Messi and the club need each other," the defender told reporters after Barca's 5-0 win against Las Palmas.
"The relationship between both parties has been really good up until now. I hope that, in terms of elite football, Messi plays here forever. There's no better place for him, although it's a matter which must be dealt with in private by Barcelona."
Luis Suarez, meanwhile, blamed the media for the storm which has been stirred up and re-iterated that Messi wants to stay at the club.
"It's the press that create the drama, misinterpreting [comments]," he told Movistar immediately after the Las Palmas game.
"Messi wants to stay and the club already know what they have to do. The president has said he wants him to renew. So we're calm despite everything that [the press] are saying."