BarcelonaBarça will present Lewandowski at Camp Nou right on the first anniversary of Messi’s traumatic departure. The statement of nine lines rocked Barcelona and was the prelude to a painful staging with the star, alone, in a sea of tears. In those difficult days of August, the atmosphere was doughy, the future of Barça was a black hole and the no at CVC it had turned into a funeral. There was still support, the CEO existed, Koeman continued as coach and there was suffering to register players because the so-called levers had not become fashionable. So many things have happened in a year that you have to rub your eyes to realize that we are not in a Christopher Nolan film. Today, Laporta smiles while the signings rain down, which, until not long ago, seemed like fuming utopias.
Nobody remembers Ferran Reverter’s containment policy. His long-term numbers-man theses of Mediamarkt did not match Laporta’s vision of the family business. The president, aware that in football clubs the success of the ball is what marks the heartbeat of progress, he could not imagine eating Swiss chard from an empty box. He sensed that the partners wouldn’t stand for it either, so they voted for him en masse. What he’s doing now is being true to himself: taking risks, betting and going out to play. all or nothing In addition, he knows that optimism at the limit of the impossible is good for him: either reversing controversial motions of no confidence or tying endorsements to the extension. This is the purest Laporta since he won the election. He promised they would do it again and that’s what he’s looking for, although the conditions and context have changed a lot to clone the mythical virtuous circle.
Barca are now leading the spend in the summer market thanks to the anticipation of future income while avoiding the monstrous debt inherited from Bartomeu. Laporta is confident that the money that has stopped – and will stop – entering the club’s coffers will experience a miraculous resurrection when sporting achievements return to the fore. Xavi already knows what he has to do, because the pressure they will experience on the pitch will be monumental. What if the move doesn’t go well? Will the entity be even more swallowed up by external vultures? Will the curse of the joint stock company fall? These are unanswered questions for a Barça embraced in the present, immersed in a mad race for survival on a Las Vegas road and with a cigar on one side of its mouth. At least it will have tried.
