Original article @ Bleacher Report
by Adi-Oula Sebastian (edited for totalBarça by OmarX)
AC Milan finally got their man… Adriano Galliani hustled FC Barcelona yet again. This time they managed to con FC Barcelona for their most expensive signing in Zlatan Ibrahimovic for a mere €24.000.000 payable next year.
Sandro Rosell is now officially the president of FC Barcelona.
Sandro Rosell began to design the future of FC Barcelona in an afternoon meeting Monday with manager Pep Guardiola, one of the first moves of his new presidency. High on the agenda were discussions on the coming season, as well as Guardiola’s future with the club.
According to Catalan based newspaper Sport, Joan Laporta arrived early at the polls to vote for the next president that will be his successor after being Barcelona’s president for the past seven years.
“I am very confident that Arsenal will end up understanding the situation. For Cesc the best thing would be to complete the transfer as soon as possible, before the start of the World Cup. But I recognize that it will be complicated because Arsenal are totally within their rights to stand firm and we have to respect that.”
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, commenting on the lines of communication between Barcelona and Arsenal about Fabregas’ bid, at a conference in the Universidad de Vic entitled ‘Barça, more than a club. The keys to a successful plan’.
According to Catalan based news paper Sport, in a ceremony held on Wedensday in Madrid, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta indicated that the agreement between the club and the UNICEF should continue until the year 2011. Marta Segu, CEO of the foundation of UNICEF said “the commitment of the club [FC Barcelona] to the vulnerable children has been extraordinary.”
“They [Real Madrid] are looking for ways to answer our model of football and I believe they have Barcelonitis. They are in a situation where Barcelona have won everything and they have not won a thing. We will continue to impose ourselves on the pitch and it will be up to them to find a response to our model.”
FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, commenting on the presentation of Real Madrid’s new coach Jose Mourinho.
Catalan sports paper Sport report that Barcelona president Joan Laporta last night suggested Arsenal were overpricing Cesc Fabregas because he had left them for next to nothing six years ago and has won next to nothing with Arsenal in the way of major honours since.
Former FC Barcelona midfielder, member of the well known “Dream Team”, and current coach Josep Guardiola (39) collected his seventh trophy as Barcelona’s coach after winning the Primera Division this Sunday with an impressive 4 – 0 victory over Javier Clemente’s Real Valladolid.
The current president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, insisted on Monday that Bojan Krkic (19) will remain a Barcelona player next season. In saying as much, the president has put an end to all the speculation about Bojan either being loaned out in order to get some playing time, or being included to a swap deal for either Fabregas, Ribery or David Villa.
“The player must show his desire to play for the best team in the world considering he was once a blaugrana himself. Because of that, he needs to tell his (current) club he wants to come to Barca.”
“Experience tells us a player’s price becomes a lot more expensive after the World Cup, as such it would be wise if we can make any signings before then.”
Speaking to a French TV Canal Plus reporter yesterday, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta insisted all the ‘noise’ about ‘Villarato’ hurled at the club a few months ago was just a figment of the media’s imagination [specifically Madrid-based].
“I think there are no excuses for the trip. We are not a club that are looking for excuses. This is a great team that knows how to play. A very prestigious club, but the result can be overcome. The remaining 90 minutes are to be played at home. I hope Pedro’s goal is crucial.”
FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta
According to the Moroccan media, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta met up with Arsenal FC midfielder and Spanish international Cesc Fabregas, in Morocco early last week.
Barcelona president Joan Laporta believes FC Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes (28) deserves to be part of Spain’s World Cup squad this summer.
He is one of the most successful presidents the club has ever had. In the seven years he was at the helm, Joan Laporta has returned FC Barcelona to its rightful place as one of the best clubs in Europe. What’s admirable of his administration is the way he manages to lift the Catalunya flagship sports club into what it is today – not just in football but also in every field of sports that the club participates in Spain and Europe – while at the same time still be financially prudent and viable.
Barcelona President was clearly satisfied with overcoming Real Madrid yesterday in a game that will most likely be “major blow to Real Madrid’s moral,” according to Espnstar.com.
In a bid to pre-empt presidential candidates including Sandro Rosell from using the promise of a new star signing to entice votes in this up-coming club election, incumbent president Joan Laporta non-chalantly dropped a hint.
“Sandro Rosell will not be able to present his candidacy with a promised signing of two players as I already have their verbal agreements that could see them at the club even before June 30. That means he will have to wait for next year to sign someone if in the end he does win the presidency.” Continue reading »
Even though what he says now may have little bearing on what the club might do in the future, especially if his chosen continuity candidate fails to win the next presidency, the out-going Barcelona President Joan Laporta was asked by French magazine Le Journal du Dimanche what he thinks about a couple of players’ and a French coach’s chances of joining the Catalan club.
“It is one of the matches where I left happier lately, because we demonstrated that in addition to playing well, we also suffer.”
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, commenting on what he thought of Barca’s last game against Osasuna.
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta believes Lionel Messi has firmly establishing himself as the best ever. “Messi has once again shown that he is a wonderful player and that he is, without doubt, the leader of Barcelona.”
“This is something the whole team has achieved. Messi thrives off the team spirit. His enormous talent is for us to enjoy but the whole team has performed at a high level.”
FC Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, commenting on Barcelona’s win against VfB Stuttgart in the Champions League.
Speaking at a press conference after the match against Valencia, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta congratulated forward Leo Messi for his three goals, and also the team for their win against Valencia at the Camp Nou. Aware of the importance of the match, Laporta acknowledged that the victory has been “very important to us.”
“We depend on us and we should not seek excuses. I am convinced we will win the league because we have a very talented team and we depend on us.”
Joan Laporta, FC Barcelona president, celebrating the 50th anniversary of PB Vallès de Sabadell.
FC Barçelona president Joan Laporta stated that he was “very pleased” with the team after the encounter with Almería because “they always stand up despite all the difficulties.”
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta will next week visit refugee camps in Rwanda which the club’s foundation and the UN have been financing for the past two years.
Laporta will visit the camps at Gihembe, Kiziba, Nyabiheke, which are home to a combined population of over 35,000 people, on Wednesday and Thursday, the European champions announced on their official website.
Barcelona said their charitable foundation had constructed sports facilities and care centres and helped train teachers at the camps.
FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta, is surely enjoying his last days as a president, after Regal Barca won the Basketball’s Copa del Rey in the final game against Real Madrid. Laporta is also leading the Blaugrana’s delegation to Germany where the football team will meet VfB Stuttgart in the round of 16 of the Champions League. Catalan sports paper Sport reports Laporta’s statements from a press conference held before FC Barcelona’s match against Stuttgart and his response to the criticisms raised at Guardiola and the club after the Santander match last Saturday.
“The team works hard and gives everything, but Pep is the one who knows better about the fitness and morale of the team and I trust everything the coach says and does. As a president and as a fan I see that he is doing a great job; I like it because he is demanding and with him we lived the best times in Barca’s history,” admitted Laporta. He also noted the opinion of Johan Cruyff and his weekly article in the newspaper: “It is a free opinion and Cruyff’s critique and opinion is always successful and beneficial.”
Barcelona have denied that they are planning to make a move for Arsenal midfielder and Spanish international Cesc Fabregas (22).
In an interview with The Times, club president Joan Laporta, told that he is not tempted to bring the Spain midfield player back to the club where he was a youth team player.
Laporta also played down suggestions that he has offered Thierry Henry, the former Arsenal forward, as bait to Bayern Munich as part of a deal to take Franck Ribery to the Nou Camp.
Asked if Fabregas could be a summer signing, Laporta replied: “He is not a temptation.”
In the post match press conference the players and the president all agreed that Atletico deserved to win the game and that Barcelona didn’t play very well. However, they all recognized that the team is still in first place and aren’t too worried about Real Madrid having pulled within 2 points.
Iniesta
“Losing is never good. We lost a difficult game but we must continue. We didn’t play as well as normal but we gave it our all until the end. Atletico has a great team and is always capable of winning.”
Xavi
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