BARCELONA – Joan Laporta was again absent from a debate between the candidates for the Barcelona presidency on Wednesday evening, in which both Víctor Font and Toni Freixa openly criticized him for what they understood to be ‘disrespect for the Barça’s partner. but received all the media attention Thursday in a press appearance in which, taking advantage of presenting his project to the sections of the club, he did not deny his interest and willingness to sign Erling Haaland and revealed that he had had a conversation with. Gerard Piqué after Tuesday’s debacle against PSG.
The one who was president of the club between 2003 and 2010, and who, according to the polls, was the main favorite in the elections on 7 March, was very careful not to say the name of the Norwegian forward of Borussia Dortmund so much that he was two scored goals in his team’s victory in Seville, like that of the Catalan center-back, but when both were put on the podium, he implicitly made it clear that he was referring to them.
Laporta reiterated: “I keep the will to convince Leo Messi to continue at Barça. Within our capabilities and competing with clubs that are state and can afford him a lot more, I will try to convince him to continue and to help build the current Barça and future ‘and from there Haaland appeared on stage.
If the squad needs an upgrade, do you have cards ready to reinforce it? Can you think of a player like Haaland? She was asked. And the former president, who did not explicitly refer to the Norwegian verbally, agreed and assured himself that he was willing, if necessary, to undergo a signature of these features.
“Yes. I have all the cards ready to face any situation and if we need to improve the football team, I have the cards ready to play them,” he stated, without wanting to delve further into the topic and reporters for next week. to quote, when he will give his sports project in terms of the first team in another performance.
He also documented the relationship he maintains with a number of players in the squad by revealing that after Tuesday’s defeat he spoke “to a player … and I saw him very upset, depressed and pissed off.” He did not want to mention his name, but it was clear that he was talking about Gerard Piqué, whose image he used exactly in a video of the presentation of the project for the sections.
“I spoke to a player after the game. He had sunk, pissed off, but he was exactly the one who set a good example by wanting to play out of an injury. As he is, he had sunk,” he clarified.
“We cannot leave them alone and we will be by their side and help them regain the winning mentality,” he stated, acknowledging that after the loss to PSG, I was also angry, with a huge disappointment, because I just thought about going to sleep and leaving. As the hours go by … But the message is very clear: we have to be with our players. “
“We need to hand over all our support to the team at this point and not go into apocalyptic scenarios. I don’t like to advance events: in the cup against Sevilla there is a return match and in the League Atlético yesterday two points. “You have to support the team”, concluded Laporta, who in the case of the champions showed himself against the collapse.
“We will go to Paris very calmly. Barça is a team that knows how to win, but that knows how to defeat it while maintaining dignity,” he began by pointing out … To sign a point of rebellion later on “We also need to see a mood comeback. If we’ve already done it with PSG once, it can be done again, even if it’s more difficult and away from home this time. Let’s not forget that Barça is a club with epic moments in its history that take us to glory ”.