Josep Maria Bartomeu was the protagonist of the Esport3 program ‘Las vacas sagradas’, where he spoke at length about the Assembly on Sunday and his management during his tenure as president, highly criticized by some delegates in the Assembly, where they even asked the current board to expel Bartomeu as a partner. “In 2003 the delegates asked for the expulsion of Gaspart and in 2010 that of Laporta,” recalled the former leader.
Barça space: “I am in favor of the referendum. The conditions have changed, especially economic investment. They will have to explain this very important change in conditions very well. Basically in our project, they have only changed the location of the VIPS boxes.”
Leadership: “I resigned a year ago. Presidents have to be at home. If I have appeared in the last few days it is because I wanted to clarify things, especially after the attacks I have received. I don’t see fit to go to the Assemblies.”
Suspension of the Assembly: “It was the most logical thing to do, but it had to be done that way. Surprised because it had never happened.”
Responsibility: “The delegates have all the right to have an opinion. I lived a simulated situation in 2003 when they were able to expel Gaspart and in 2010 they asked me to expel Laporta. The directives have to be valued by their entire management and not only by a year. The pandemic has ruined our entire project. I understand that people are angry, but the balance must be made in the last ten years. We are number one in the world according to Forbes magazine, for the first time in history, beating all rivals “.
Debt: “Until March 2020 we had profits of more than one hundred million, but when the pandemic hit we lost 555 million euros. Part of the debt is provisions and the other a devaluation of players. For us, the pandemic has meant losing 220 million. The The partner must understand that the management, up to Covid, was endorsed by LaLiga and UEFA. “
Mbappé: “His signing was on the table, but the technicians preferred Dembélé because they wanted a player to open the field.”
Message: “The situation is complex, but not as dramatic as they want to sell us.”
Complaints: “Nobody has reached into the box in this directive. We are very calm.”
Mistakes: “Not assessing after Liverpool’s defeat that a change would have to be made. He had to have made a generational change. I listened to the players and I was wrong. We were going to the limit economically and the pandemic caught us all by surprise.”
Dembélé and Coutinho: “Some of those we have done have not met expectations, Players who have cost a lot of money, but these things happen in football. When these two players were signed, they were applauded by everyone. Coutinho came because Iniesta was leaving. the best in the Premier League. Dembélé came because of Neymar’s departure. The parameters, according to specialists, are 50% correct and incorrect. “
Valverde: “His departure was agreed with the players. We all believed that a change in the way of training was needed in search of an improvement.”
Matheus Fernandes: “I will not say the name of the technicians who recommended it. The directives do not sign.”
Camp Nou pathologies: “The firemen I think they thought the opposite. We had all the permits. These reports were internal and did not go to the board. Going to the stadium has never been a risk.”
Messi: “His departure is a problem. We are a buying club and not a seller. I fought a lot in the summer of 2020 for him to continue. And now that he wanted to stay, he has had to go. I could not allow Messi to go to a Champions League rival. His case is different from that of Neymar, Figo or Rivaldo. It is evident that he was the highest paid player in the world and by far. In July 2020 I reached an agreement with Messi to renew two years, but then everything broke. We will have to ask Messi why “.
Griezmann: “The technicians asked and insisted for a year. They considered it essential, especially because Luis Suárez was injured a lot that season. He was a different forward and a world star, and a team player.”
Koeman: “When we considered changing our coach in 2019, the first one we called was Ronald. But they told me they were focused on the Dutch team. In the end, we decided on Quique Setién, due to his profile and his concepts as a coach. Unfortunately, it was quite a lot for him. Bad. Koeman’s first season has been very good. We won the Cup and I still don’t understand how we lost LaLiga. In a normal situation we would have won the double. “
Challenge: “I would introduce myself again. I have lived twelve seasons at Barça. With Laporta, with Rosell and later myself as president. As culé it is worth it. It would only change the entire Covid era. From then on it is a poisoned gift.”
Barçagate: “It is not true that we hired companies to discredit our assets. When you know that you are innocent, what you hope is that time passes and everything is clarified. We have the example of Sandro Rosell, who spent two years in preventive detention.”
commissions: “Let them say the names of the players, because the normal is 5%. Malcom? The Minguella company is the one that charged those commissions.”