Joan Laporta said “Barcelona are back” and added that they will be able to compete for the game’s best players next summer following the introduction of a new signing. Ferran Torres in Monday.
Barca to Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann left before the season even started due to financial problems, but the Catalan club’s president has now warned their rivals they are ready to spend big to get back to the top.
After completing the contract with Torres are from City of Manchester for 55 million euros last week, Barca have been closely linked with a move Borussia DortmundStriker on Demand Erling Haaland.
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“Allow me not to talk about individuals because it’s not in anyone’s interest,” Laporta said during Torres’ presentation amid a barrage of questions about whether the club can afford to buy Haaland. Are not.
“We are working in the summer period. Anything is possible if it is done well. I am sure that everything will go well. Barcelona remains only a reference. Every player Everyone considers the possibility of coming here.
“We still have our place in the transfer market. People can be ready because Barca is back; the arrival of Ferran shows that. We are a reference. The revival of Barca is reality and the football world has recognized that.”
However, Torres and other senior teammates Pedal tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday, the latest case confirmed by the club following an outbreak in LaLiga. The Catalan side are already missing 14 players, eight of which are due to COVID-19: Sergino Dest, Philippe Coutinho, Ez Abde, Jordi Alba, Alex Balde, Ousmane Dembele, Gavi and Dani Alves. Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet also tested positive for the week but was cleared after their latest test came back negative on Sunday morning.
Laporta’s optimism towards the transfer market contrasts with the situation at Camp Nou. Clubs total debt is more than 1 billion € and the spending limit imposed by LaLiga for the season is only 97 million euros. They can only spend 25% of what they save.
Therefore, Barca, the team ranked 5th in La Liga and eliminated from the Champions League in the group stage, cannot register new contract Torres with the Spanish league.
“The reality is when we signed him, we knew we had no salary cap,” explains director of football Mateu Alemany, who sits alongside Laporta.
“We’ve worked hard since then and we believe we’ll be able to sign him up before Sunday. We want him available to the coach. [Xavi Hernandez] as soon as possible.
“We have a place to register Dani Alves, which we will do today or tomorrow. We made an exception with Ferran to sign him [without the room]. We will decide with Xavi about anything else [January] contracts, but will need to get out first. We have until the end of the month. “
Barca will be able to register Torres with the league if they renew Dembele’s contract. He is in the final six months of his contract and if he introduces new terms it will allow the club to split amortization payments over his transfer fee over a longer period. .
However, sources told ESPN last week there has been a step back in contract extension talks with Dembele as Barca are awaiting a response from the player’s agent.
“It’s not true that there will be another meeting,” Alemany said. “There has been contact with his camp for months. They know the position of the club, that we want him to stay.
“There’s an extension offer on the table and that’s with them. We cannot delay any longer, we are waiting for a definitive answer.”
