“There is a campaign to harm us”

Joan Laporta spoke this Tuesday about the current situation of the FC Barcelona and categorically denies that the club has bought referees. The Barça president explained that they have prepared a conference in the next few days to refer specifically to the ‘Negreira case’. He was also consulted about the possible return of Messi and anticipates that a winger and another striker will arrive at the club.

negreira

“We have a press conference prepared to discuss this issue. Barça has never bought referees and Barça has never had the intention of buying referees. Absolutely never. The forcefulness of the facts contradicts those who try to change the story. There is a campaign to harm the interests of Barça. It is a campaign aimed at controlling the club. LaLiga does not accept that Barça did not sign the contract with CVC”.

Black hand?

“We are aware that we cannot govern based on levers. Lately only negative news from Barcelona has come out. Now they don’t like who we have hired for the Camp Nou works… I would say it has to do with the Super League”.

Attempt to control Barça

“We started to go well, we have saved the club financially and we cannot continue with the levers. You have to make a feasibility plan. What I am seeing is that there is only negative news and articles that I am not going to talk about. He did not like that we have hired the Limak company. Who has an interest in controlling Barça is LaLiga and CVC. I think it goes here. We defend this model of ownership of partners and partners. This is what motivates me the most. You have to defend the interests of Barça and they have it complicated. Barça will not enter into another ownership model. They want to scare us financially to end up being a Public Limited Company. I see attempts, but they are not truthful enough”.

Levers

“LaLiga is dedicated to issuing circulars so that the levers do not affect fair-play. You can only operate on assets that do not generate recurring assets. The sale of 49% of BLM would not be considered income. Neither does the Museum, because it provides income. Barça Studios depends on assets. We have created a subsidiary that has Web3, NFTs… and before it served for the purposes of ‘fair play’. Now only 49% of individual assets could be sold. I have not considered it. With BLM we have offers. We have reviewed the debt and we are at record income from sponsorships. As long as it works like this, let’s not consider selling more assets.

wage bill

“We are exceeded by 200 million, which we inherited from the previous board, which had the approval of LaLiga. They left Barça with a salary limit exceeded by 300 million. LaLiga allowed that to be done. We arrived and they forced us to much stricter rules. I want to say that this is not correct and this situation should be redirected. They only do things so we can’t sign. This winter we have not signed, despite the fact that we had a small margin. If we reduce the wage bill, we are doing a great job, but we still need to reach the 1/1 norm”.

Meeting with Messi’s father

“We have seen each other, yes. We have discussed the situation. I congratulated him on the World Cup. We have talked about the tribute to Leo. I want to respect PSG. I don’t want to talk about a possible return out of respect for the player and PSG”.

Messi’s departure

“I had to make that decision. The institution is above all. We did not have ‘fair play’. I have a sad feeling. I had to choose and I chose the institution. In Paris we exchanged glances”.

Javier Tebas, president of LaLiga

“I don’t see it as very logical. He must look after the interests of all the clubs. Also from Barcelona. He makes comments that affect the confidentiality of the LaLiga clubs he chairs. He has had performances in the past that show an obsession with Barça. I hope that the Barça-LaLiga relationship improves. Let it be recorded that he is the one who puts up obstacles ”.

Ansu Fati

“We are very interested. It is getting better. Now she needs to grab that spark that she had that every time she had one, it was a goal ”.

Transfers for Xavi

“He will surely sign a winger. Center, it depends. We will try as far as we can sign. A striker, surely yes. Some will have to come out. Midfield, I think we have a big one and I don’t think it’s necessary. We have grassroots football that will surely produce players for the first team. Xavi must do this exercise of looking”.

Xavi’s renewal

“I have considered renewing Xavi, even if LaLiga is not won. He defends the genuine style of the club. He wants to wait and see what happens, but I want to give him peace of mind. He is a person who does not ask us for crazy things and who understands the economic situation of the club ”.

Sorry for beating Madrid

“It is a good debate for football, I am a defender of how. But it is not necessary to take it to the extreme. I like attacking football and I’d rather win 6-5 than 1-0, but I’m enjoying the defense we have. Since Alves, Piqué, Puyol, Abidal we haven’t had a defense like the one we have today. He is making us win games. If we hadn’t had injuries in defense, we’d be in the Champions League”.