Gerard Pique has said he wants to captain Barcelona following the departure of Xavi Hernandez.
Pique, who recovered from a disappointing 2013-14 campaign to help the club win a Primera Division, Copa del Rey and Champions League Treble last season, joined Barca at the age of 10 and has spent the majority of his career with the Blaugrana.
Now 28, Pique is a candidate to wear the captain's armband following the departure of long-term skipper Xavi to Qatari club Al Sadd SC.
Ahead of him in the pecking order, however, are Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi and Sergio Busquets.
Pique said on the Barcelona's official website: "Although I haven't been captain, I do have an important role in this team.
"Whether I am captain or not in the future, I will continue to have an important role in the team.
"I would like in the future to be captain, but it's not something I'm losing sleep over. Right now, it's not something I'm thinking about. We will see if the opportunity arises."
Since returning to Barcelona in the summer of 2008 after four years at Manchester United, Pique has made 191 appearances for the club and scored eight goals.
His form dipped in 2013-14, a season in which Barca failed to win a trophy -- and he struggled at the World Cup in Brazil last summer.
Spain started the competition with a 5-1 defeat to Netherlands and were knocked out of the tournament in the first round.
Pique said at the time to Marca: "I don't believe I am one of the best centre-backs in the world.
"I wasn't in La Liga and neither at the World Cup. I have to recover because in order to play for Barcelona you need to be among the three best defenders in the world.
"I was the best and now I must be one again. It's a challenge."
Pique put the bad year behind him and started in 46 games for Barcelona last season to help his club win a Treble.
"When I said I wanted to recover my best level, I meant that I wanted to return to be important for the club and to win titles," he said. "I believe I have achieved both aims.
"This past season was perfect and now we need to continue to win."
Pique has the possibility of lifting three more trophies with Barca in 2015 -- a UEFA Super Cup, a Spanish Super Cup and a FIFA Club World Cup.
"That's our short-term aim," he said. "Then we will have to focus on La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Champions League again.
"It's going to be a long season. We have a team with high quality players and we can aspire to do great things again."
A World Cup winner in 2010 and a European Champion with Spain two years later, Pique is under contract with Barca until June 2019.
Pique also spoke about his club's decision to appeal against a €30,000 fine handed down by UEFA against Barcelona as punishment for pro-Catalonia banners that fans unfurled during the Champions League final win over Juventus on June 6.
"Let's let the club act on this," Pique said. "We support the club in its decisions."
Pique and Barca are in Washington DC as part of their summer tour of the United States.