Joan Laporta has returned to head Football Club Barcelona after winning the presidential election on Sunday. Laporta has been one of the most successful presidents in the Catalan club history with his earlier tenure resulting in a sextuple at the 2009-10 season with Pep Guardiola as the manager. Additionally, he made some serious business during that time bringing home some of the biggest players in world football viz. Ronaldinho, Deco, Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but the situation will not be the same this time for the veteran.
Barcelona were in decent financial condition at that time but now they are going through some serious crisis. According to reports, the La Liga giants are under a debt of over Euro 1 billion. The club is going through turmoil both on and off the field. The previous president Josep Maria Bartomeu was arrested last week by the Spanish police for his involvement in the infamous ‘Barcagate’ scandal.
While on the field, Barcelona went trophyless last season and suffered the biggest ever defeat of their history. They were thrashed 8-2 by Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League last season.
Arguably Barcelona’s greatest ever player and current captain Lionel Messi also expressed his desire to leave the club ahead of the current season after his fall-out with then-president Bartomeu. Eventually, Messi stayed as he didn’t want to drag the club to the court, but there are speculations he might leave after his contract expires this year.
So Laporta has a lot on his plate and might not get much breathing space to rejuvenate one of the biggest clubs in European football.
Here are the five challenges the 58-year-old will have to tackle:-
Fighting Financial Crisis
Barcelona’s financial crisis isn’t a news. They are reeling under a massive debt with claims they are moving towards bankruptcy. Laporta’s biggest challenge will be to set the house in order, financially. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the club badly which is going to be one of his biggest challenges.
Hopefully, with the crowd returning, there may be some respite.
Convincing Messi to Stay
Messi leaving Barcelona will be a huge blow for the club as Laporta himself claimed during his campaign that the Argentine generates almost 30 per cent of the the club’s revenue. With some financially powerful clubs coming for Messi’s signature once his contract expires later this year, Laporta will have his hands full.
Recently, Spanish newspaper El Mundo claimed it has accessed the contract of the Barcelona captain. Messi’s reported contract of €555,237,619 (US$673,919,105) over four seasons – is the biggest in sports history.
That Messi continues to have a soft spot for Barcelona is quite evident with him casting his vote at the presidential election and money will not play a big role in convincing him to stay but it will be the plan.
What Barcelona need desperately is some quality players to fight for the UEFA Champions League which is what Messi cherishes the most. With Laporta’s good relations with some big football agents, we might see a couple of big signings soon in the next transfer window.
Rejuvenate La Masia
La Masia is touted amongst the most impactful academies in world football. Players like Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Gerard Pique are all the products of it and with them, Barcelona have achieved great heights.
In the past few years, La Masia has failed to produce the same quality of players again due to the downfall in their standards. Apart from a couple of players like Ansu Fati and Riqui Puig, not many have been claimed as the future superstars.
After becoming the president, Laporta said he will work on bring back the glory days of La Masia.
“What can guarantee the club’s future is La Masia: we’ll present a project with a new methodology to make La Masia a centre of excellence central to our focus,” he has said.
Bring Back the Cyruff Philosophy
“Surely Johan has helped us. He inspires us in all the decisions we have to make. This candidacy is Cruyffista one,” these were Laporta words after becoming the Barcelona president.
Laporta has always been a huge admirer of Johan Cyruff and his philosophy of football. The Dutch great brought winning mentality to the club both as a player and then manager as his famous ‘tiki-taka’ changed the footballing world for good.
It is highly expected that Johan’s son Jordi Cryuff will join Laporta’s team as the technical secretary.
Signing Big Names Like Old Times
Amidst the financial crisis, it will be a tough task for Laporta to sign some massive names as he did during his first reign. It’s a very logical step that Barcelona need to players who can enable them to fight for the UCL.
If anyone can pull off some string in these conditions then it is Laporta. Players like Erling Haaland, Sergio Aguero, Paul Pogba, Bernardo Silva, Gabriel Jesus and Mohamed Salah will be on his radar.
“What we can do most for Barça is to love it, to love it more than ever. Long live Barça and long live Catalonia,” Laporta said after becoming the President as every Barcelona fan hopes he bring back the good days again.