Laporta talks about the club’s financial situation, progress under Xavi, Balde’s renewal, Ansu Fati’s situation, Busquets’ continuity, and the comments made by Messi’s brother in his press conference.
Laporta on Club’s situation:
“I am here to explain the situation of the club as we are in mid-season. We are proud that we made the right decisions and put the club on the right path. We won the Super Cup and we will compete for every other trophy.”
Laporta on winning La Liga:
“Our priority objective is to win La Liga. We are firm candidates but we need to work hard until the end. There is great enthusiasm within the team. We’re growing defensively, conceding only 7 goals all season.”
Laporta on Xavi:
“I want to thank Xavi for the great job he has done. He knows Barca fully, he is a positive person who always looks for solutions. From the board, we are very grateful to him.”
Laporta on the economic situation:
“I want to talk about the economic situation. We saved the club, we took decisions to reduce debts and now we are in control.”
Laporta on FFP restrictions and Salary Cap:
“We are having trouble registering players, it’s because we’ve exceeded the salary cap of La Liga. We inherited a salary limit which was exceeded by €300M-€350M, we have reduced it by €100M and we plan to reduce another €70M in summer.”
Laporta on the club’s overall atmosphere:
“We are on the right track. We are satisfied with the atmosphere in the club and we have the will to do our best. Hopefully, we will overcome other stages that the club has had. We are ambitious and we are satisfied that joy has returned to Barca fans.”
Laporta on the comments of Messi’s brother:
“We are very proud to have had him. Don’t make me talk about Messi, he belongs to PSG and I don’t want to talk about players who are at another club. I don’t care about his brother because he has already apologized.”
Laporta on Ansu Fati’s situation:
“Ansu’s representative has been in Barcelona these days, but Ansu is a Barca player and we have high hopes. We have no news that we want to make moves. He is a dear person and a player with whom we have high hopes.”
Laporta on Busquets’ continuity:
“Now we are focusing on winning the League. Sergio is fundamental and it would be difficult to have the same dynamic without him. When he wants to talk, we are open to it.”
Laporta on Balde’s renewal:
“Everything is being worked on. We cannot say that Balde’s renewal is done, but it has been practically worked on and agreed upon. Balde shows interest in continuing at Barca and his agent too. We are awaiting the ‘fair play’ to sign him up.”