BarcelonaWe love the Barça candidacy, led by Joan Laporta i Estruch, won the Barça elections just a year ago. The Barcelona lawyer obtained the support of 54.28% of the members in the second elections with more participation in the history of the club. Víctor Font (with 29.99%) and Toni Freixa (8.58%) completed the podium. 365 days after a very celebrated victory in times of crude pandemic, we contrast to ARA the main points of the program that Laporta shelled out in his public speeches, although his electoral strategy was based more on not making mistakes than not by developing specific aspects of Barça’s different areas of management. To carry out this analysis, we take as a guide the extensive interview that the current Barça president gave to this newspaper on 12 December 2020, when less than two weeks had passed since his presentation as a pre-candidate.
Sports project
The election coincided with doubts about Leo Messi’s future at the club. The Argentine ended his contract in June 2021 and the renewal was one of the star issues to be dealt with by the candidates to take over from Bartomeu at the Camp Nou box office. “It’s a matter of credibility. I have a personal relationship with Leo and I know that money is not the most important thing for him. We have to make him a proposal with a competitive team,” said Laporta. excity. Months later, as president, the project incorporated Memphis, Eric Garcia and Kun Agüero free transfer, but lost Messi because his new contract could not be registered in the League due to the fair play. At the request of the guarantors and executives of the entity, Laporta ended up not accepting the solution that Javier Tebas, the president of the employer, offered him in order to retain the star (CVC money). With Messi at PSG, Barça left Griezmann on the last day of the summer market and Coutinho in the winter market, and were able to make four signings: Alves, Ferran Torres, Adama and Aubameyang.
The winter acquisitions have raised the level of a squad coached by Xavi Hernández since mid-November. “He will be Barça’s coach, for sure. I have a very good relationship with him and he is what he wants most,” said Laporta in the pre-election campaign about the egarenc. Later, already in office and with Ronald Koeman on the loose, the president cooled his speech about the former captain: “Opinions about Xavi are not contrasted.” In other words, he did not trust him enough, despite pressure from his environment to sign him before the summer, when he had not yet renewed with Al-Sadd. Finally, when he saw that Koeman’s continuity was unsustainable and that none of the other options he had in mind were possible, Laporta called Xavi to offer him the first team.
With the relief on the bench and the signings, Barça has a recognizable style of play again, has consolidated its position in the Champions League and is fighting to win the Europa League, the title it has at its disposal. Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff, strong men in sports planning, are already working to further strengthen the squad. The big goal is Erling Haaland, but the competition to sign him will be fierce. The first moves are being made to improve the defense.
Economic project
Before winning the election, Laporta already knew that he would inherit a Barça in technical bankruptcy. “We have to take very serious measures. We have to reduce expenses, increase income and make the right decisions in the sports section,” he told ARA, without wanting to go into detail about the economic plan that Jaume Giró would later have to defend. (which would end up falling off the board before taking office). Giró, who is now Minister of Economy, proposed the issuance of bonds to refinance a debt of more than 1 billion. He also focused on lowering spending on salaries, a precept that Laporta also saw as vital to straightening the club: “The ratio of putting the payroll between 55% and 62% on the total revenue […] When you go 75% or 80%, it’s ungovernable. “A year later, Barça refinanced its debt not with bonds, but with a 600 million agreement with Goldman Sachs, and began to lower the pressure on salaries. sports in the accounts, although it has pending deferrals of high contracts like those of Piqué, Busquets, Alba, Ter Stegen or De Jong.
There are fewer facilities with income. “It takes imagination. We have to work to generate 350 million. We’ll get it for sure,” Laporta said. One year after the election victory, Barça have not been able to close any commercial agreements and have lost thirteen sponsors in relation to 2019. With Spotify there are talks in the final stretch to close a global agreement for a maximum of 75 million year, including the surname of the Camp Nou, but the signature has not yet arrived. That is why, in part, talks are accelerating to fit the money of the League with CVC in the accounts for this year, which project revenues of 765 million.
Governance and institution
“My model proposes strong leadership, that the board is up and running, that the managers are the first to pack their bags and sell their enthusiasm for Barça.” It is possible that this statement of intent is one of the most important drivers of the success that Laporta picked up at the polls. In fact, the president and the directors do not skimp on public appearances, either to accompany the professional sections or to participate in promotional events or with supporters clubs. Laporta’s directive is not hidden and is present in all processes. A temperament can cause tension with club executives, who feel they do not have enough independence to make decisions. The clearest example is Ferran Reverter, the commitment of the board to occupy the position of CEO and which he resigned a few weeks ago. The main reason for his farewell was based on a model of governance (and not ownership) that, according to him, sometimes puts personal affinities above professional arguments.
On the other hand, Reverter was of the opinion that taking legal action against certain actions of Bartomeu’s management threatened Barça’s relationship with investors. He was not in favor of airing the results of the report forensic nor to bring some issues to the Prosecutor’s Office, which was done and announced in early February at a press conference. In the pre-campaign, Laporta was already in favor of “lifting carpets”. “I have no intention of revenge against Barto or Sandro. But this is not incompatible with transparency,” he added. Therefore, he is keeping his word.
Barça space
Another central theme of the last election campaign was the Espai Barça, which includes the in-depth refurbishment of the Camp Nou and the construction of a new Palau Blaugrana. “I want to speak with ownership, see the contracts with Goldman Sachs, their conditions, if the project itself depends on the financing, the naming rightsif we are subject to peremptory clauses… “, said Laporta before taking office. Once at the club, the president and manager, Jordi Llauradó, studied the project and saw that the credit operation under Bartomeu was short on taking on the bulk of the work, so they redone their plans, changed their chief executive and raised the funding ceiling to 1.5 billion, a move that the partners widely approved in the first telematic vote of the club history.
But the new financial agreement has not yet been signed and the forecast indicates that it will take a little longer to do so. However, the idea is to launch the new Camp Nou this summer. The next step is to know where the first football team will play while the stadium is full of scaffolding. Montjuïc is waiting on the horizon, although it cannot be ruled out that Aristides Maillol will continue, as the Olympic stadium is asking for an investment to comply with European regulations.
