Joan Laporta Faces the Public and Responds to Everything
The president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, stated this Tuesday that the club is "stronger than ever" and warned that "external destabilizers will have to work hard to shake an institution that will soon celebrate 125 years of existence."
"The attacks will continue. When we start doing well again, the Negreira case conveniently reappears. A case that doesn't hold up at all," Laporta warned, who spoke at a press conference after the close of the summer transfer market, at the Auditorio 1899.
The top leader of the blaugrana entity defended the work being done by the board of directors to reverse Barça's delicate financial situation and by their sporting director, the Portuguese Anderson Luis de Souza “Deco,” to improve the quality of the squad.
"With Deco, the wage bill and the average age of the squad have been reduced this season, and its quality has also improved," Laporta emphasized about the former Portuguese footballer, whom he continued to praise.
"We are very satisfied with Deco's work. Thanks to him, we have Flick (Hansi, the new coach). He has done a great job renewing the club's young players and is responsible for the signings of Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor, as well as the hiring of physical trainers, one of the keys to this positive start to La Liga," he added.
In this regard, Laporta did not want to confirm whether there had been an agreement to sign Athletic Club's forward Nico Williams, but denied that the deal was ultimately thwarted by LaLiga's financial control rules.
"We could have managed to comply with the 1-1 rule this summer. The signing of the shirt sponsorship agreement (with Nike) allowed us to register without too many difficulties, but the sporting tempo doesn't always align with the financial tempo. We considered it unnecessary and unwise, believing we could achieve even better results. It will be the best contract in the world of football. And if we had needed to make another effort in the market, my colleagues and I would have provided a personal guarantee," he explained.
Laporta announced that, "shortly," they will present the club's accounts, which last season showed "positive ordinary results," something that "hadn't happened in seven years." Additionally, they have achieved "a historic record in sponsorships and in BLM (the club's company that operates its official stores and licensed product sales) revenue."
However, he admitted that, despite all these economic improvements and the reduction of the wage bill, Barça still lacks "60 million" to reach the 1-1 rule that would allow them to register players normally, something he hopes to "achieve in October."
Therefore, Joan Laporta once again called for calm: "We receive many lessons from outside, but what we are doing is saving Barça in the shortest possible time without jeopardizing our future and associative model. We have emerged from this dead-end."
On the other hand, he reminded that the Spotify Camp Nou "is almost a reality" and expressed confidence that the first team could play matches in the new stadium "by the end of the year," albeit with 60% capacity.
"Due to being at Montjuïc, we have lost 100 million euros in revenue. Therefore, our top priority is to return to the Camp Nou as soon as possible," noted the Barça president.
With La Masia as "the foundation of the sporting project," Laporta highlighted Flick's involvement in the team's recovery: "We are demanding work, professionalism, that he lives day by day with intensity, and that he offers us football we like. We are aligned on everything. He is a demanding coach, but he doesn't look for excuses and makes do with what he has."
"Now they are distributing 500 million more. We are improving, but everything can always get better. The Superliga numbers are much more attractive, but I welcome any evolution. I am excited about this new format, and I am happy that there will be more matches, with interesting games at the stadium," he reflected.
