Joan Laporta talks Haaland, Super League, Messi, Koeman and a new Camp Nou

Joan Laporta spoke to the media earlier today where he detailed the Espai Barca project and provided a deeper insight into its planning. He also talked about the team, the CVC deal and other topics of importance. Here are the snippets from his interview.

Espai Barca

On the revenue from the project: “We made some calculations. The Espai Barca will bring the club 66% more than the Camp Nou brings in normal conditions without an epidemic.”

On where the team will play during renovation: “I have always said that my preferred option if we had to leave the Camp Nou is Johan Cruyff Stadium. We are talking about bringing in between 40,000 and 50,000 people by building additional stands. It is difficult but not excluded.”

On using Montjuïc as a backup: “It’s another option, although we also have to agree with the Barcelona city council which, by the way, is very cooperative with the club.”

On the possibility of playing at Camp Nou during renovation: “There is an option under consideration which is not to leave the Camp Nou during maintenance work and use the half of the stadium. But in this way, not all fans can enter.”

On the benefits of the project: “Espai Barca will be the largest sports entertainment space in the world. It will be a global reference. It will have great advantages for the city of Barcelona as well as for the club in terms of income.”

On the previous board’s efforts in the project: “On Espai Barca, the previous administration acted on the loose and without planning how to pay off the investments they were making. When they saw that what they were proposing did not meet the expected cost, they stopped and did not bring the project to the general assembly to vote on it!”

On the flaws of the previous board’s plan: “The previous administration forgot that the technological aspect of the Espai Barca project represented an increase in the cost of 150 million.”

Further elaborating on the flaws of Bartomeu’s plan: “The previous administration, during their exit, said that the cost of Espai Parsa was 825 million. This is a serious talk, but we said in all transparency that the project will cost a lot because it is an architectural work that will last a century and allow us to return to the highest level.”

On the importance of the project: “Espai Barca is a great project that will bring us back to competition. Our competitors have rebuilt their stadiums, especially our direct competitor, but our project will be much bigger. We can’t get behind them.”

On the general assembly vote for Espai Barca: “What I want is the members of the General Assembly to see is that our competitors have done a good thing by renovating their stadiums. Look at the Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao stadiums. [They are] Modern stadiums that are comfortable, safe and generate much more income. What Real Madrid did with the renovation of the stadium is also good.”

CVC deal

On possibly signing the CVC deal: “If the conditions of the CVC are changed, perhaps we will sign them. But so far we have not received the documents that we have to sign. Barca cannot agree without studying the document in depth first.”

On the original CVC proposal: “What they explained to us is that we will receive 270 million from the CVC, but it’s debt. Let them say it is an investment, a partnership, a loan. Give me the documents of the agreement and I will study them carefully. We will not put 10% of our TV rights as collateral for half a century. Barcelona cannot sign any contract with their eyes closed.”

European Super League

On its current status: “The Super League is not suspended, on the contrary, it is still alive and open to dialogue with all football agents.”

On his stance on the competition: “We will continue in the past to get the most attractive competition in the world, which is the Super League. We want to achieve this because, in addition to raising it, it will have a positive impact on the economies of clubs.”

Miscellaneous topics

On Messi: “I would have liked to be the boss who helped Leo to be in the first team and the boss who kept him in Barcelona forever, but that wasn’t possible.”

On the team’s situation: “We know what we inherited and how much it costs to change, but I’m optimistic, our rivals in the League are not much better than us.”

On comparing the team with other European clubs: “In Europe, our competitors are better than us in terms of fitness, but in football anything can happen. We will go for all the tournaments we participate in and I am optimistic that we will be champions in some of them.”

On Dembele: “We are in talks with Dembele’s agent for a renewal, we know he is in the last year of his contract. He is an interesting player for us and the coach thinks so too.”

On upcoming renewals: “Gavi and Araujo, Roberto’s renewal is almost over, and some details remain.”

On changing to a 4-3-3: “I will not fall into the trap of answering this question because I know the consequences (laughs). It’s up to the coach.”

On the team tactics: “The coach knows how the team should play based on the players they have. He deserves all our trust and I’ve told him that over and over again.”

On Ronald Koeman: “Koeman told me that he trusts this team and is waiting for the injured to return, now Aguero is about to return and can give us the effectiveness that we lack.”

On the next three games: “I had a chat with Koeman about whether he trusted this team and he said yes, but he needed to get the injured back. This came after a period of disappointment because things did not go the way we wanted them to. We have gained strength and a renewed spirit to move forward and now we have 3 important matches to play.”

On possible transfers in January: “I don’t know if it will be in January or at the end of the season. We are attentive to market movements and want to improve the team.”

On the importance of La Masia: “Our model, regardless of the non-negotiable way of playing, is also based on betting on La Masia. It is critical to the club’s continuity and financial sustainability.”

On exits of existing players: “Whoever entered must leave.”

On possible star signings: “Barcelona has always been the place of the stars and we want to return to that, but there must be a sporting logic so that players are not contracted just for contracting only, as happened in the recent past, and an economic logic so that the club’s economy is not endangered.”

On whether Barcelona could compete for Mbappe and Haaland: “Barca has a prominent position, agents always come to Barcelona to present famous players.”

Source: BarçaTV+