While the Barcelona faithful hope that the club will complete a deal to sign Erling Haaland in the summer, the club president Joan Laporta has poured water over the claims. In a recent interview with Mundo Deportivo, he claimed that the Blaugrana won’t sacrifice everything to sign superstars.
Operating under strict financial regulations, Laporta, despite not naming any names, claimed that the club would not lose its head in attempting to sign players that put its future at risk. Barcelona haven’t been impervious to such deals in the past; the Catalans paid a total of 395 million euros to sign Ousmane Dembele (€140m), Philippe Coutinho (€135m), and Antoine Griezmann (€120m) under the presidency of Jose Maria Bartomeu in the not-so-distant past.
“I can tell you that we will not do any deals that put the club at risk.
“The members can be calm because we are not going to lose our heads over an operation of this magnitude.”
Laporta said.
He also strengthened his argument by claiming that players join Barcelona not for the money but for other intangible factors such as the club’s philosophy and its way of working.
He highlighted that those who wish to play for the club will have to adapt to the stringent financial conditions it currently finds itself in.
“Most players want to come to Barcelona, they like the club, the team, our philosophy, our way of working, of interpreting football. And this is good, we are seeing this in many cases and on a daily basis.
They will have to adapt to Barcelona’s salary levels and to an economic structure of the deal that maintains the sustainability and balance of the club.”
While they may not sign Haaland in the summer, Barcelona have already wrapped up – or are close to wrapping up – several other deals for the seasons ahead. The club has, reportedly, captured the free signings of midfielder Franck Kessie and central defender Andreas Christensen from AC Milan and Chelsea, respectively, and are now working towards signing AFC Ajax right-back Noussair Mazraoui on a free transfer. They have also been linked with Leeds United attacker Raphinha in recent weeks.
