Laporta talks Messi, Xavi, La Liga title, Tebas, Fati, Gavi, Pique, Silva, Alemany, Deco

Barcelona president Joan Laporta made an appearance on TV3 earlier today following the team’s La Liga title triumph after their 4-2 win over RCD Espanyol on Sunday night.

Laporta returned as the president of FC Barcelona in March 2021 and soon made several big changes at the club. One of the big calls he made six months into his second presidential term was to replace Ronald Koeman with Xavi Hernandez as the first-team manager.

And the decision has paid off handsomely as Xavi has led Barcelona to their first La Liga title in four years just in his first full season in charge of the team.

“We want this to be the start of more titles and to bring joy back to Barcelona fans,” Laporta said. “The players, Xavi, the coaching staff and in general the whole club have done an extraordinary job.”

There have been speculations about Xavi’s new contract and Laporta confirmed that talks will take place soon now that the league title is in the bag.

“We agreed to talk about it at the end of the season. I understand that there will be no problem because Xavi is a club man,” he insisted.

“Xavi was clear that he wanted to be the coach of Barça. Maybe more than me. It has a lot of points in common from Guardiola’s era.”

Having confirmed that Barcelona want to re-sign Lionel Messi in the summer, Laporta insisted that he and the Argentina captain had exchanged several messages in the past and the club are looking to build a competitive squad for next season, saying:

“I spoke with Leo Messi about the situation that happened. We sent each other text messages. We have a relationship.

“Messi plays for Paris, and there has been some unpleasant situations with the fans. I don’t want to bother him. We exchanged messages recently. He respects the club, and nobody doubts that.”

Talking about Messi being linked with a move to Saudi Arabia, Laporta said: “Barça is Barça, and this is Leo Messi’s home. Barcelona can compete with Saudi Arabia and everywhere else.”

“Messi is the best player in the world and obviously any coach wants to train him”

Moving onto the club’s transfer plans, he said: “We have to work to have a more competitive team. We are happy with the team but we think it can be improved. We do it with a view to competing in the Champions League.”

“We will strengthen the defence, the midfield, and the attack. We are ready to sign and it depends on La Liga approving it.”

Laporta also revealed that he had come close to signing Bernardo Silva in 2015, but was not elected as president at the time.

“Bernardo Silva? I know him personally. In 2015, I signed him but I was not elected,” he revealed.

The club president also thanked La Liga supremo Javier Tebas for his congratulatory message, saying: “I thank him for his congratulations. I’m not surprised. It highlights LaLiga. For me. La Liga is the most important in the world.”

Despite the rampant speculations surrounding the future of Ansu Fati, Laporta confirmed that Barcelona wish to keep hold of him and the player does not wish to leave either.

“Ansu Fati is a player we want at the club, and he wants to stay at Barça too,” he said.

The club president also confirmed that they are certain that Gavi will remain at Barcelona despite his contract registration becoming a concern.

“I am convinced that Gavi will continue to be a Barça player. We don’t suffer anything from his renewal. We suffer more from his momentum on the field, that he doesn’t hurt himself one day.”

On the departing Mateu Alemany, Laporta said: “Mateu Alemany is a professional and an honest person. He’s one of the engineers for our success. He accepted a very high offer from the English Premier League.”

The president then confirmed that Deco is one of the candidates being looked at to replace Alemany, while stating that the former midfielder would have to stop representing players if he were to become a director at Barcelona.

“Deco, who already works with us as the club’s representative in Brazil, could be the new director. In case he becomes sporting director, he would have to leave his agency.”

On the possibility of inviting Gerard Pique for the title celebrations, Laporta said: “I called him yesterday morning, but I couldn’t talk to him. This league is also his, he has competed, and he has been with us.”

The Barcelona supremo also gave his two cents about the incident that happened at the RCDE Stadium last night when fans rushed to the pitch to stop Barcelona players from celebrating their title triumph, saying:

“Espanyol, both the management and the public, were generally very correct and acted with great sportsmanship. The incident was isolated and luckily we don’t have to regret anything serious. We will not ask for responsibility. It is an internal matter for Espanyol.”

On the Negreira scandal, he added: “Most clubs in the world have these reports. Referees are part of the game. We don’t buy referees and we never have.”