Joan Laporta acknowledged that “people ask me to return Messi to Barça and I can only answer that Messi is from Barça and we’ll see. With Leo at Barça, our brand would have more value, because he continues to be identified with us, but even without him, the Barça brand is very powerful. We are under reconstruction and the world knows that we will return and we are very strong. Regarding his return, I would not like to get into controversy, he is a Paris Saint-Germain player ”.
Regarding the Super League, Joan Laporta confirmed that “there will be a bonus of 1,000 million for the founding teams, but it has to be specified because the issue is under discussion. They are significant amounts, but this competition will move a lot of money”. He added that he hopes the opinion of the General Advocate “will be eclectic and in general favorable to the promoters of the Super League, but that will be of no use if there is no dialogue with UEFA and a co-governance structure is formed with the clubs and UEFA at the same level”.
The maximum president of Barcelona made these statements in an interview from the border between Colombia and Venezuela in the program El Món to RAC1 where the Barça Foundation collaborates in an action together with UNHCR and Save the Children.
Laporta explained regarding his trip that “I was aware that the situation I was going to see would be tough, but being live is really impressive, but together with other institutions we try to improve the living conditions of refugees in this area. That is why what we try to contribute from the club is hope and joy. We have provided a tool that is football through our SportNet program to separate the youngest from the dangers they experience related to war and drug trafficking”.
Joan Laporta ended by saying that “Barcelona is solving its economic problems with the levers and we will be at the first world level again. In this sense, the reinforcement of the team is going step by step: Dembélé is happy and has a contract and if we want to bring someone, we have to solve the Fair-Play problem that we have lost after the elimination from the Champions League, but we are trying to solve it with sponsorship contracts. We are in negative Fair-Play and there are many interpretations, but you have to talk and find the middle ground that satisfies LaLiga and the clubs”.