The New Era Has Began
Yesterday Barcelona president Joan Laporta gave a briefing in a long conference in the Auditori 1899 claiming that joy has returned to FC Barcelona and the club is heading into a new era. Laporta praised Xavi( Barcelona manager) and the players for the improvement of the team on the pitch, he said winning the Spanish super cup was a big step for the club as they head into the new area.
Barcelona failed to win a trophy since the departure of Messi, it was a horrible two seasons for the club and Xavi winning the Super cup trophy against an opponent like Real Madrid shows how Xavi and the squad have progressed and are working more hard to win the La Liga title this season.
Here is more of what Larporta said about Xavi, "I want to thank him publicly for his commitment. He hasn't shunned his responsibilities, he knows the club and the way we play. He's a positive person and always looks for solutions. Xavi has been grateful and has never asked us for any more than we can give. We are very happy with the job he's doing". Source
Laporta also spoke about the financial stability of the club, Laporta claimed he and his team have saved the club from financial ruin and he and his team have made some brave financial decisions, and put the debt of the club under control. Barcelona's financial issues caused the club a lot, they had to let Leo Messi leave and sold some players that they bought for a higher amount to a lesser price in the transfer market.
Players like Coutinho which the club paid a total of 142 million euros to Liverpool and was sold to Aston Villa for 20 million euros, Griezmann was bought for over 120 million euros and was sold back to Atletico for 20 million euros.
There are fill other players Barcelona wasted a lot of money and sold out for peanuts, and with their high wages it messed up the club finances, that was why when Laporta came in and took the role as the president of the club, he made it his priority to reduce high wage bills to balance the books.
Here is more of what Laporta discussed about the wage bill, "We have gone from a negative BBB to a positive one.” As for possible signings, Laporta said "we still need to bring down the payroll, as we have been doing since we took over in March 2021. We have spent 215 million euros in this time on strengthening the squad while bringing in 141 million in sales. We have built a competitive squad with just 74 million." As for whether there will be new signings this summer, the answer was "I think so." Source
The Director of football Mateu Alemany and Financial vice president Eduard Romeu gave their comment on the reduction of wages at the club," I think by June or July the payroll will be around 450, 460 or 470 million euros, close to the official parameter, which is 60% or 70% of our total revenue. We need La Liga to appreciate these developments because, in the 2020/21 season, we were at around 655 million." Source
Laporta and his team have done a great job since he took the job, the new era is approaching, and can boldly say my club is back and this is just the start of something special: So guys that will be all for today, thanks for stopping by