He needs to reach €124m by Wednesday or the process could restart
For the first time in a long time, it has felt as though there is reason to be optimistic for Barcelona. Their league form has improved, Lionel Messi is scoring at an impressive rate, a crop of young players are putting in promising performances for the first team. Sure, they might be out of the Champions League, but they are on course to potentially win a domestic double.
After everything that happened last summer – the 8-2 defeat, letting key players go for next to no money, Messi trying to force an exit that was only prevented when it became clear he would have to take the club to court – that is astonishing.
Another significant of good news, depending on your standpoint, was Joan Laporta’s victory in the presidential elections. Following the departure of Josep Bartomeu, who had overseen a slow and steady decline in the squad, wasted near enough €1 billion on sub-par players, and refused to let Messi leave last summer, Laporta’s return was welcomed with open arms. Even Messi voted in the elections for the first time to – presumably – vote for Laporta, the man who appointed Pep Guardiola and oversaw the most successful period in the club’s history.
But his ascension to office is now in jeopardy, with Spanish newspaper El Periodico reporting that Laporta is still €70 million short of the deposit payment needed for any winner to assume the role of president.
The club’s statutes state that any elected president must present a guaranteed investment of 15 per cent of the club’s budget, which in this case is €124m.
Laporta must find the remaining money before Wednesday or the entire electoral process could have to start all over again.
One regular day of Barça. All I ask for. Will never happen.
