Since March 7, 2021, just over 1,000 days ago, Joan Laporta has been president of Barça. In his second term, he had to make far-reaching decisions to address many institutional and sporting issues, some of which were controversial.
1
Messi said goodbye
On August 5, 2021, Messi returned to Barcelona to sign his renewal but Barça informed him that they could not register him and opened the door for him to find a team after 17 years in the first team. The argument, the impossibility of following the ‘fair play’ demanded by LaLiga. The two sides ended up airing their differences.
2
Giró, Reverter and Alemany
Jaume Giró resigned before joining the board to become Barça’s vice president of economics. He cited professional reasons, though there were some disagreements. This gave him time to manage the 124.6 million guarantee. Eduard Romeu filled his vacancy. Eight months later, Ferran Reverter resigned as CEO due to disagreements over the business model. Mateu Alemany, the director of football, also left because of his disagreement with Deco, the sports director, who signed to replace Jordi Cruyff.
3
Technical revolution
In addition to changes in institutional areas of highest trust, Laporta changed sports structures. José Ramón Alexanko, responsible for grassroots football, and Miquel Puig, director of La Masia, were the first to join. The latter was not there and his position was taken by Andrei Xepkin. Among others, former youth football coordinators Aureli Altimira and Jordi Roura and Barça B coach Garcia Pimienta did not make it. Rafa Márquez leads the reserve team.
4
CVC and LaLiga
CVC and LaLiga
Barça did not accept the CVC agreement. Its financial injection of around 250 million means, according to the club, an increase in debt and the mortgaging of its audiovisual rights for 50 years. The entity is seeking a renegotiation, although relations with employers have now improved.
5
Koeman gave way to Xavi
The president was never connected to Koeman and even the Cup title was not worth it. The relationship became unsustainable and after falling out with Rayo he fired her. Xavi arrived after he was released from his contract at Al Sadd. It just renewed until 2025 after winning the last Liga and the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid. His signing made a huge impact on the fans and boosted Barcelona’s spirits.
6
Registrations, cancellations and renewals
In January 2022, the club reached into its checkbook and signed Ferran Torres from City and added Aubameyang, Traoré and Alves on free transfers. Already in the summer, in search of a competitive team, Pablo Torre, Raphinha, Bellerín, Koundé, Kessie, Christensen, Marcos Alonso and Lewandowski arrived, as the flagship of the project. The acquisition of Oriol Romeu, Gündogan, Iñigo Martínez and the loans of Joao Félix and Cancelo and the emergence of young players such as Lamine Yamal and Fermín strengthened a team with aspirations for everyone. The club renewed Pedri, Ansu Fati, Araujo, Gavi and Balde. Piqué, retired, is no longer there, nor is Alba or Busquets, who play in MLS.
7
Titles
The 2020-2021 Copa del Rey was Laporta’s first title. Almost two years of drought until Xavi won the Spanish Super Cup in January 2023. The debacles in the Champions League were compensated by the 2022-2023 League. Barça won all the league titles in the sections.
8
The gatherings
With a subsequent debt of 1,350 million and a negative net worth of 451, the club was forced to ask at the first meeting of its members for the approval of a loan of 595 million with an interest of 1.98%. In a new meeting, another credit operation of 1,500 million was approved to finance Espai Barça, which due to its complexity was adopted by a telematic referendum.
9
the ‘levers’
Without CVC, Laporta chose to use ‘levers’ to generate extraordinary income and thus sign players, in addition to closing other agreements: the sale of 15% of LaLiga’s TV rights in Sixth Street for 25 years in exchange for 312 million (400.5% of capital gains for accounting purposes) and 49% of Barça Studios (24.5% in Socios.com and 24.5% in Orpheus Media) in exchange for 200.
10
Spotify
The sponsorship agreement includes Spotify displaying its logo on the men’s and women’s first team shirts for four years as well as the training shirts for three. Sometimes that logo is replaced by the logo of top artists like Rosalía or the Rolling Stones. The Estadi was renamed Spotify Camp Nou for 12 years.
Eleven
Changes in sections
Laporta carried out a revolution in sections. In handball, director and manager David Barrufet and coach Xavi Pascual did not follow. In basketball, Juan Carlos Navarro replaced Nacho Rodríguez as manager. In futsal, its director Txus Lahoz and coach Andreu Plaza did not succeed. In roller hockey, Gaby Cairo replaced Toni Miró as manager.
12
The ‘Negreira case’
The ‘Negreira case’ and the payments to the former vice president of the Technical Committee of Referees have become a permanent headache, questioning all presidents from 2001 to 2018. The president participated in those payments that he considered reasonable and documented because they are made into player and referee reports.
13
The Super League
The Super League
The creation of a Super League, supported by Real Madrid, caused a great stir. Barça is one of its promoters, which means almost permanent confrontation with LaLiga and international federative organizations.
14
Espai Barça
Laporta promoted the project. The choice of the Turkish company Limak has generated suspicions but the work is progressing with the remodeling of the Camp Nou as the main axis. The team moved to Montjuïc until it returns to the Estadi in 2024. Jordi Llauradó, head of the macroproject, resigned in January
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
