Barça News
Barça presidential candidate Laporta is worried that Messi could leave Barça
The former Barça chief explained his concerns about the board’s relationship with Lionel Messi
Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta explained that he is concerned by the fact that the board, led by Josep Bartomeu, has still not made progress in the contract renewal with Lionel Messi.
“When I say that we are going to be vigilant, this is one of the issues that I am referring to. Messi is a player with a long way to go, he is the best in history and the right conditions must be created for him to continue and feel comfortable at the club so that he plays for a few more years.”, explained Laporta.
The former Barça chief confirmed that he will run for upcoming elections, but he hopes that the Argentine will be at the club in 2021: “I am afraid that some decision of the board may lead to a perhaps irreversible decision from Leo.”, referring to the fact that the Argentine might leave the clıub.
Laporta has openly criticized the current board several times, claiming that ‘they are not on the right track’, especially during the institutional “Barçagate” crisis, which he believes should be called “Bartogate” (referring to Bartomeu).
?️ — Joan Laporta: "What I would like is the return of Guardiola. But we all know that it would be a personal decision. Xavi is a coach at Qatar right now and he will decide the ideal time to return to Barcelona." pic.twitter.com/t09R3BDICU
— Barça Universal (@BarcaUniversal) May 11, 2020
The ex-Barça chief also added that he would not recommend Barcelona legend Xavi to return to the club as manager under the current board: “If I were Xavi, I would not return to this.”
Source: Cadena Ser
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In an interview with BeIN Sports, Ousmane Dembele spilled beans on various topics ranging from football to personal life. The interview was conducted before yesterday’s Clásico.
The French winger is reportedly a player who the new president, Joan Laporta, admires a lot. Even during his campaign, the Catalan lawyer raised the issue of Dembele’s renewal. The club has invested heavily in Dembele and has finally started to reap results.
When asked the question about his contract renewal, Dembele explained: “My future? I still have a year left on my contract. There have been no discussions with the club, I’m happy and I feel good.
“A new president has arrived and I don’t really know him, but he is very close to the players. We’ll see how it goes.”
In all the reports that have come out and interviews given by the young players, all of them have mentioned that the club captain, Lionel Messi shares an exceptional with this new generation of players.
On the same lines the World Cup winner said: “Messi gives confidence to the young players in the team and helps us a lot. He gives me advice.”
Dembele is said to be liking his new role up top in the newly found 3-5-2 system by Koeman. He jokingly said in the interview that the dressing room now relates him to Samuel Eto’o, a former Barça legend: “As I now play up top, they call me Samuel Eto’o in the dressing room.”
The Barça winger had an excellent season at Dortmund which led to multiple European giants going into a bidding war for him.
His strike partner during his days in Germany was Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whom the Frenchman regarded as `his favorite teammate’. He also said that `Thomas Tuchel is his favorite coach’.