“I’d ask him to focus on their accounts”- Joan Laporta hits back at Bayern Munich’s Julian Nagelsmann over his comments on Barcelona’s finances
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Joan Laporta believes Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann demonstrated ‘ignorance’ when he expressed amusement at Barcelona’s spending spree.
Barca signed Bayern Munich’s prolific striker Robert Lewandowski for an undisclosed fee this month, and Raphinha arrived at Camp Nou in a big-money move from Leeds United. The Catalan club also agreed to sign Jules Kounde from Sevilla for a reported €55 million, while Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen joined as free agents.
Barcelona couldn’t afford to keep Lionel Messi a year ago due to the club’s financial crisis, but in recent months they have sold 25% of the club’s television rights for the next 25 years and secured a massively lucrative sponsorship deal with Spotify.
After Lewandowski’s departure, Nagelsmann stated that Barcelona is “the only club in the world that can buy players without money.” However, Barcelona president Laporta believes Nagelsmann should check his facts.
He told reporters: “What I would ask is that you look at your current account, they have received significant money from the transfer of Lewandowski. I respect everyone and do not interfere in the economy of other.”
Laporta added: “I give them the benefit of the doubt that maybe they thought we couldn’t, but they hadn’t gauged the strength of Barca and the drive of the new board. It is ignorance, lack of information from our club. It is true that we were in a terminal situation, but we left the hospital with the levers and these gentlemen have remained on a page that we have turned.”
Barcelona president Joan Laporta believes rival clubs are afraid of the ‘New Blaugrana’
Laporta thinks rivals club are clearly worried that Barca will be a force again. “If I don’t get involved in what others do, they shouldn’t get involved in what we do, perhaps they do it because they think that we will continue to act in the market and they see that we have surpassed them. Let them worry about their own.
He continued: “Barca is competitive again and will compete in all competitions. The weight and strength of a club with more than 122 years of history is very great, its assets are highly valued.“
“It is true that I would have liked not to sell the percentage of television rights, but the situation was complicated and required being brave and making decisions, because football does not wait and our fans, who are very well accustomed, deserve a club like Barca to compete. Our demands are greater than those of others.”
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Sujeeth Shetty
(766 Articles Published)