Barcelona president Joan Laporta
Barcelona president Joan Laporta(Image: David S. Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)
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Barcelona president Joan Laporta will not attend their friendly against Birmingham City after revealing he is recovering from a heart problem.
The Barca chief had been due to fly to England as part of their preparations this week, but he was admitted to hospital due to a heart arrhythmia.
Laporta underwent an operation to put his heart back into a normal rhythm, but his recovery means he cannot travel.
"Everything went well," Laporta said on social media. "My arrhythmia has been reversed. My heart is beating rhythmically again.
"I am deeply grateful to the outstanding doctors, nurses and healthcare staff at Hospital de Barcelona, led by Dr. Jordi Morillas. They did an excellent job.
"I am also proud of Barça's medical services, led by Dr. Xavier Corbella, and of my chief of staff, Manana Giorgadze, who coordinated everything with great efficiency.
"I would also like to thank Dr. Valentí Fuster and his entire team at Mount Sinai for their valuable advice, which gave me peace of mind, as well as Dr. Brugada for recommending the procedure to follow in order to reverse the arrhythmia."
Laporta had attended the World Cup this summer and attended several games as Spain won the biggest prize in football by beating Argentina.
He had been due to link up with fellow Barcelona chiefs this week with the squad currently based at St George's Park as they face Blues on Friday.
New signing Karim Adeyemi is expected to make his first appearance after sealing a move from Borussia Dortmund this summer.
The attacker has not played for the Catalan club since his switch from Germany but is expected to be unleashed for the game at St. Andrew's.
While he was on the bench for the recent clash against CE Europa, he did not feature. It was believed he needed time to improve his fitness, but he has trained this week as Hansi Flick now contemplates giving him a run out against Chris Davies' side.
England World Cup star Anthony Gordon will not play, however, after being given extended leave due to England's involvement in the World Cup, in which they reached the semi-finals before losing to Argentina.
Gordon moved to Spain from Newcastle this summer in a deal thought to be worth £69m. He signed a contract that will take him to 2031, but he is being given more time to recover from his exertions with his country over the summer.
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