It is always a very important meeting on the side of Barça with the general assembly of socios which allows the supporters of the Catalan club to explain themselves directly with the Barcelona leaders. Joan Laporta and Mateu Alemany, Barca’s president and technical secretary, responded to many important club topics in addition to the Lionel Messi case.
On the arbitration against Inter
Laporta: “The arbitration we suffered against Inter is shameful. It was such a big scandal… I think UEFA should come back to it. He is a referee who has already refereed us against Bayern and who has not seen another penalty on Dembélé. The Super League will be much more professional, we will solve a problem that distorts the market and it will be more professional. »
About Javier Tebas
“Mr. Tebas we have known him for a long time. He is a man of character, very vehement, very jealous of his people. He is a person who must be at the service of the clubs and sometimes he forgets it. Depending on how it comes to him, he’s very careful, and depending on how it comes to him, no. Sometimes he applies a very restrictive vision to us, even if sometimes he himself saw that he had to have a broader vision. »
On Dembele’s extension
Alemany: “I have to say that the point of contention on Dembélé’s extension was to make it clear to the player and his agent that his salary was off the market and that he had to adapt to the club’s new salary grid. »
About De Jong
Laporta: “Frenkie de Jong is still with us. We had very good offers of very large quantities. We preferred to keep the talent. »
On the reduction of big salaries
Laporta: “We tried it with several players, but it couldn’t be possible and we had to guarantee 10 million. We accepted it with sportsmanship”
Alemany: “When we arrived, there were off-market contracts which prevented us from registering in La Liga with the 1-4 rule and which made it difficult to sell players. 75% of these salaries no longer exist and the objective is that these salaries disappear. Players must be paid according to the market. They cannot be up to 400% above market value. »
On the Umtiti case
“We are not considering declaring an incapacity for work, we are looking for other solutions. We can hardly count on him for the future, because none of the coaches we had felt he could play, so we will try to make a permanent transfer. »
On the controversial white jersey
“It’s complicated because you have to work on it two years before and if you announce it. The one for this season was ordered two years ago. Just like white. When we arrived it was already decided by the previous rdirection. What we have tried is to improve it with some details. »
