Joan Laporta, President of FC Barcelona
Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images
Barcelona are currently in election mode, with Joan Laporta and Victor Font fighting to become the next president of the club.
The incumbent Laporta is the bookies’ favourite. But he is facing a more intense challenge this time around and has already resorted to calling out Font multiple times, even labelling him a technocrat.
Nevertheless, Laporta’s objective, should he win, is to ensure continuity at Barcelona. And to that end, Joan Soler, the managing director of his project, has given us some ideas.
There is much anxiety surrounding whether or not Barcelona will be able to sign new players in the summer, given the club’s tricky economic situation.
However, in a recent interaction with Diario SPORT, Soler has confirmed that Barcelona are not too far away from meeting the 1:1 regulations.
Joan Laporta, President of FC Barcelona
Laporta faces challenge from Font in Barcelona presidential race. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
In fact, the Catalans have to raise just €10-12 million in order to return to the rule and therefore, sign players normally in the coming summer.
**“We will be able to sign without problems because we are 10-12 million away from the 1-1 rule and we will reach it in the summer. We are already working on the positions to be strengthened,**” he said.
Barcelona are indeed gearing up for a busy summer, with the club likely to focus on a new centre-back and a new striker who can replace Robert Lewandowski.
Alessandro Bastoni has emerged as an option but the club’s pursuit of the Italian will depend on how big they go for a new striker.
“Negotiating knowing that you don’t have a wage bill is complicated, and now you can do it with more peace of mind. All the great players want to come to Barça, and sometimes not having fair play has been an impediment,” Soler concluded.