“I see Laportas everywhere … and Laporta there is only one”

An orange shirt with Johan Cruyff's Holland number 14 presides over the meeting room of Joan Laporta (1962) in his law office, located on the Diagonal, almost touching with Francesc Maciá. In one corner, a spectacular photo in which he is surrounded by Xavi, Iniesta, Messi, Busquets and Daniel Alves. He clings to the Barça flag while being photographed for the AS interview. Laporta is known as a favorite. Everyone wants to be him … but Laporta. as a mother …

-Aren't you a little tired of the song that they have composed for your campaign, Estimem el Barça?

-I will never get tired of loving Barça.

-It's not that, but the little song …, the little winter song.

-The song is good! It is very well mounted. And the making off is better … Just like we did … it's very good.

-Let's go to the nougat. How are you seeing the pre-campaign?

-Very calm for the moment. We face it with a winning mentality and at a good pace. When I say quiet, I mean in regards to the environment. As for my activity, it is intense and we try to get closer to the majority of partners. But of course, it is different. It is different from other campaigns because you cannot do many face-to-face events. We zoomed a lot … but I'm satisfied with the campaign team.

-One of the things that is palpable is that he starts as a favorite and that there is a certain interest not in attacking him, but in placing him in the middle of the debate. Benedito assures that he is still in L'Elefant Blau and you are not; Farré says that he feels the Laporta of 2003 and others who, directly, say that Laporta is not Laporta. What do you have to say in front of all this?

-I see Laportas everywhere; and Laporta there is only one. Candidates Joan Laporta, there is one. If others want to be, I respect that. And I respect what they say because I am focused on our program and on being president on January 24th.

-Can you preside over a club in the same way when you are 41 years old or 28 years old: and can you preside over a club in 2003 as in 2020?

-First, we are going to find ourselves in a very similar economic situation, with very high losses and unsustainable expenses, which must be reduced. That said, I think you can preside over a club at 58 years old. I would even say that you have more experience and you are more prepared if you maintain your determination and your vocation to serve the club. You could preside even better. Anyway, I'll tell you from the 24th if I win.

– It is to imagine that it saw the interview of Messi. A conclusion can be drawn. That he is very angry with Bartomeu. And from there another is extracted. What is more serious, make Messi angry or leave the club bankrupt?

-They are two things that are the result of poor management. The situation has worsened with COVID, but mismanagement is part of and is the origin of this consequence; having Leo like this. The two things are reversible. The situation of the club is reversible and the Leo issue, I hope too. I think the most important thing is that Leo said he will wait for a new president to decide and, therefore, he would be willing to listen to Barça's proposal. They told me they would wait until the end of the season. I like to stay with the positive and I think that is very positive.

-In 2008 he had a meeting at Messi's house and there it was explained to him that players like Ronaldinho and Deco would leave and that he would remain as a franchise player. And it convinced him. What was that message and what would you give him now?

-To answer the question, first I have to be president. To see the possibilities that we have in the club to make a good financial proposal. And then, the sports proposal has to be competitive. Leo does not move for money, he wants Barça. And then, I think what he really wants is to keep winning the Champions League and Leagues. And there is the key to the issue. Make a competitive proposal.

-Is the member prepared to lower the expectations of the club? Because it comes from years in which titles were discounted.

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-Asking for patience in Can Barça is preaching in the desert. And in part, I feel positively responsible for it …

– Your fault?

– Blame the generation of footballers who set the bar so high. That means that the Barça shirt weighs and that Barça is or can be a reference again. There are no transitional years at Barça. If the reference player, such as Leo, is already gathering his courage and saying that he wants to fight for everything this season, it is a positive sign. We are in all the competitions alive and everything is possible. I don't see any team that is not going to fail in LaLiga; and in the Champions League if we go to PSG anything can happen. There is a League, there are Champions, there is a Cup. We will all go.

-Why does everyone want to be Laporta and Laporta seems to want to be an establishment or at least be in a more neutral position?

-I have my proposal. I don't see it as a neutral position, I see a moment that requires responsibility, rigor, serenity. And I've always been like this. When it's time to work, I roll up my sleeves and work hard. And if successes come later, they will find me there too. We are all. But my proposal is clear. It is based on experience, I feel more prepared than ever and our candidacy profile is very marked. And if not, then you just have to go to Paseo de la Habana corner Bernabéu. And there you will see what we are building.

– Does that banner have to do with the attempt to recover the image of a collapsed team after 2-8?

-Yes, it speaks of self-esteem, of recovering pride, that we want the club to return on the path of success. The canvas also has a nice touch, I think it has been taken with a sense of humor and, in addition, it transmits respect. I understand that it is a respectful word and, of course, also seeking to recover the rivalry.

-Benedito says there is no longer sociological nuñismo and laportismo. That there are athletes and anti-athletes. Why are there antilaportas, where does that come from?

-I hope that whatever there is is support for my candidacy and if it can be better generalized.

-But where did antilaportismo come from?

-Well, I do not know. You can ask whoever said it. But I see that many members and partners, hopefully the majority, what they see in me is strong leadership, which is what the club needs, well accompanied, with talented and wise people who also see that experience and preparation They have led to a good analysis of the club's situation. People who believe in my leadership and think it's my time. I feel challenged in times of difficulty. I feel challenged as in 2003 and I have the keys to reverse the situation again. I represent, again, the change. And, also, in an uncomplexed way and with the ability to make courageous decisions that have not been made to date and that for me will not be a brake.

-Why?

-Because I love Barça.

-You suffered a very harsh motion of censure, by Oriol Giralt, and then the management team that entered did not play too clean, they went to court … What to do? Someone could say that they will pay in the same currency. But it doesn't seem like your way.

-Because of how I have been educated, because of my way of being, because I am optimistic, there will be no rancor, there will be no rear-view mirrors on or the intention to harm anyone. But it is by way of being. Because, for better or for worse, I forget about things. And I prefer to look forward. Life is short; there is no feedback. That is not at odds with transparency. We will do an act of maximum transparency when starting to manage the club. Obviously, everything will be evaluated and decisions will be made. But I hope I can make decisions by talking to those who have led the club to this situation. And if not, it will be necessary to act in the best way for the club.

-Come on, if you find a 10-euro ticket from a steakhouse, you won't take it to the press. Ask before.

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-So is. The intention to harm does not exist.

-But it existed.

-And that. It is a lesson that they have taught us all. That ruling from resentment leads nowhere and look where it has led people who thought it was necessary to act like this. We have learned the lesson.

-And within that situation, where is your relationship with Sandro Rosell?

-We have begun to recover the personal relationship. What happened to him (the preventive detention) caused me to call him, to feel bad. And I gave him my support. He reacted well and the relationship has since been resumed. It is for smart people not to look back.

-Is that photo of the Laporta-Rosell reconciliation, of uniting Barcelona families, is it a possible photo in the campaign?

-You have to see first what happens in the elections. The first thing is to reverse an economic situation that is urgent. From there, there will be time for reconciliation and to stage the unity of Barcelona, ​​which can also be staged in many ways because this is a living club. There are a multitude of valid opinions, sometimes conflicting. But Barça is alive and the will of the president must be the union of the whole club.

-An axis of the campaign, which worries in Madrid although also in a certain way here, is to put labels. Pro-independence or non-pro-independence candidate. Do you think it can be a true axis of the campaign?

-I think that the Barça fans have understood that Barça is a sentiment that unites us, that we cannot fall into these attempts to divide ourselves; and I have been to Madrid, Malaga, Granada …, and I will try to get closer to places where, I know that at certain times, this question can cause some alarm, but that when you talk for a while and we see that in the Barça that I propose It fits everyone, that should not be a problem. Because what should be is an engine of optimism.

-Freixa said that two candidates had spoken with Puigdemont.

– I respect very much what the candidates say. My strategy is not to divide Barcelona, ​​and less for issues like this. I will never stop feeling what I feel. And I don't tell anyone that they think like me. Now, I ask for respect for my ideas just as I respect others. Everyone fits in my Barça.

-Sometimes it gives the feeling that if you meet with a political leader it is bad. Puigdemont has been a president of the Generalitat. Did you meet with him, how was the meeting?

– I have not met from the political point of view. All those who have called me or encouraged me are Barça fans. We are not in an election to the Generalitat, or to Parliament or to Congress. We are in an election to Barça. There are many Barça fans of different ideologies. People whom I appreciate. I have Elena Fort, Toni Escudero. It is that politics is in society and in Barça.

-Espai Barça. It gives the feeling that Barça Corporate convinces you and that the new stadium, even though Foster's project was thrown at you, may be worth it.

-I'm willing to study it thoroughly. And every time I have more information. What I did say is that the financing of Espai Barça was well found. Because it was conceptualized as financing for an entertainment and leisure project, not financing for a real estate operation. This, with the reservation that I study the document thoroughly. Due to professional deformation, it remains to be seen in writing and I reserve my interpretation. But every time accredited people explain that to me, I give it high credibility. And this contract is well structured, it is conditional on the ratification of the Assembly and even so, it must be studied. That there are investors who bet on financing Espai Barça without guarantees, and with the only guarantee of increasing income and who also leave a part of that income expansion in the hands of Barça, as I do not think it is a bad idea.

-And Barça Corporate …

-The jewel in the crown is Barça Studios and here I have more doubts as to whether to hold on to a reference partner. What we capture here is an investment that remains part of what Barça Corporate will develop. This issue has to do with the potential for business development, and perhaps they can be separated. Because Barça Studios has great potential. That has been worked on.

-Something has done well for the Board of Bartomeu.

-I have already said that I come with the intention of taking advantage of what has been done well. When I speak of not having ideological or managerial apriorisms, I speak of that. Take advantage of what has been done well.

-Bartomeu announces Barça's entry into the Super League on the day of his resignation. Superliga yes or Superliga no?

-I have more information about the Goldman Sachs and Barça Studios contract, and about Corporate in general, than about the Super League. I will have more detailed information on the Super League later. I am open to being convinced. Perhaps a UEFA counter offer with an even stronger Champions would be better for me, because I already like the way it is. But that can be improved.

-So I would prefer it to be done by UEFA and not from the outside as it is being done.

-For the channel that maintains the essences of football and is interesting for the club. Those are my priorities. Make it an interesting proposal for Barça and not load the essences of football. And here there will be several solutions: FIFA Club World Cup, European Super League and a UEFA reaction to this and there will end up being a solution that, I am sure, is that the clubs will benefit.

-Where do you see Barça sportingly on June 30?

-If I enter as president of Barça, on June 30 there is a good chance that we will win more than one title, also in basketball. There will be chicha (laughs)

-Is Bartomeu the worst president in the history of Barça?

-That's for other people to judge, not me. Barça members and fans.

– Putting Xavi so much in the spotlight could have hurt Víctor Font?

-The candidates have their strategy and I respect very much everything they have done. What happens is that, in my case, in my candidacy we are aware of the reality of Barça and, in this sense, I respect what they have done and what they are going to do as long as they respect the forms and we have clean elections and that honor the image of Barça.

-If on the 24th you are president of Barça and you sit down with Al-Khelaifi at the Camp Nou and the Park of the Princes, are you going to ask him to sell Neymar so that Messi can continue at Barça?

-I like that PSG has played us. It will be a great tie but what I am not going to do is talk about players. It would destabilize the team. I am sure that this year we are going to win titles and my role, therefore, is not to demotivate the player. And my role, as soon as I arrive, will be to motivate them so that it is not a year of transition. And I tell you one thing, if I talk about a player, I am raising the value of that player and lowering that of the player who can leave. And I will not do that. It would be the dumb genre to fall into that trap.

-Do you think he is a feared character in Madrid? That banner is associated with his winning era.

-I am very respected in Madrid. Beyond the fact that I have an uncomplexed character, I have also shown respect. And it is a mutual respect. Let's say that in Madrid they allow me some licenses in this regard.

-When you talk about motivating the players …, will the chocolates return to the planes?

-They will come back …