The president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, declared that the Barça club “is still in the UCI, but it is improving” in an interview with the Esport 3 program ‘Onze’.
«There are data and parameters that indicate this. I have more desire than ever for this to go well, I do not regret having presented myself to be president of Barça, “he considered in his first public statements after the close of the transfer market.
Regarding the departure of Leo Messi, Laporta insisted that “what was explained is what was explained, they are objective data that everyone can contrast.” And he added: “We were pressured that either we would sign the agreement with CVC, mortgaging Barça’s television rights for half a century, or we would not comply with the Financial Fair Play.”
In addition, Laporta said that another trigger for the Argentine player’s departure was that at that moment “the first conclusions of the ‘due diligence’ appeared and they were very bad.”
The Barça president also acknowledged that he has not returned “to speak to Messi since his departure” to Paris Saint-Germain and that for him “it was a strange feeling to see him with another shirt and to think that perhaps this season” Barça will be able to “face” against him. And he denied that there was any “departure from the tone of Jorge Messi”, the player’s father, during the negotiations.
Laporta was satisfied with the salary cut achieved this summer: “We have gone from 110% of the salary bill with respect to the club’s income to 80% (now situated at 412 million euros).”
For this reason, he wanted to «thank Mateu Alemany (director of the football area), Rafael Yuste (sports vice president) and all the players who have lowered the salary bill, especially the captains, and others who are considering do it, like Samuel Umtiti ».
Asked if it had been possible for Messi to stay if all these operations had been carried out before his departure, the president of Barça ruled that “his salary could not have been paid anyway.”
But he admitted that this summer he tried to sign Neymar, as RAC 1 advanced this Monday. “We knew that he was going crazy to return to Barça and at that moment we thought that Javier Tebas’ interpretation of the financial Fair Play was different from what it finally has been,” he argued.
Regarding Ronald Koeman, whose continuity was questioned at the end of last year, Laporta assured that he has “all” his “support” and “respect”, and explained that he speaks “with him regularly” as he has done “with the rest of the coaches »he has had.
“The Johan Cruyff model is non-negotiable and Koeman knows it, in his office he has a photo of Cruyff, his ‘cruyffismo’ is incontestable,” Laporta sentenced in the face of doubts about whether he is a coach to his liking.
Barça’s latest signing, Luuk de Jong, a forward with a great passing game, was precisely a request from Koeman. During the interview, Laporta defended this incorporation: “In Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’ there was Julio Salinas, a player like Luuk de Jong. Today I was talking about it with Jordi Cruyff, that his father also did things that were a bit out of style ».
The one who left on the last market day was Antoine Griezmann bound for Atlético de Madrid. For Laporta, the French striker “does not fit into the game system” of Barça. “We all expected more from Griezmann, but he has given everything and I have never seen an attitude that could be criticized,” he added.
Laporta was also forceful about the future of the Super League: «She is alive, in the courts we have won everything. UEFA cannot make any decision that is detrimental to us. There are clubs that ask us to move on because it is what suits us. The English clubs are the ones that promoted it, but they have a very strong pressure.
And on the issues that are bringing to light the ‘due diligence’ that will be presented in detail at the Assembly of Compromisarios in October, Laporta announced that “alleged corruption and alleged criminal actions” are being found in the management of Josep’s board Maria Bartomeu. “We are analyzing whether it is necessary to purge responsibilities,” he added. EFE (HN)