"Most players want to come" - Barcelona president Joan Laporta comments on Kylian Mbappe and Erling Haaland rumors
Barcelona president Joan Laporta spoke exclusively to Mundo Deportivo, addressing the transfer rumors surrounding Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland.
The transfer sagas of Mbappé and Haaland will be the talk of the summer in the footballing world. Such potential big-money moves have earned the two superstars constant speculation and frequent updates behind their impending departures.
Both the youngsters have found themselves linked with Barcelona and Real Madrid vouching for a potential move to La Liga. Laporta has downplayed their stance in aggressively pursuing both of them as he claims the outfit's primary focus lies in building the foundations of a stronger team for next season.
The Barça president was enquired on the latest claim uncovered by L'Equipe about their interest in Mbappé, and he responded:
“The sporting management are working to improve our squad. Which is getting better and better, and we are increasingly satisfied. I want it to be clearly understood that we put the team above all else, a team that is reinforced in each area and what we don’t want to do is to promote players or look for players who are more than the team."
"What we want to reinforce is the team we have, that plays based on a traditional Barcelona system. The club think that this is what the football team needs, this authentic style, for me, is the key to everything and this is what we have to do, a team that can play this system with very talented players.”
Barcelona's president on the Haaland situation
Laporta was also asked about Haaland, but the club president dismissed the topic, emphasizing his stance of not focusing on individual players at the moment. He stated:
“I will not talk about specific players but I can tell you that we will not do any deals that puts the club at risk. The members can be calm because we are not going to lose our heads over an operation of this magnitude. Most players want to come to Barcelona, they like the club, the team, our philosophy, our way of working, of interpreting football."
He added:
"And this is good, we are seeing this in many cases and on a daily basis. They will have to adapt to Barcelona’s salary levels and to an economic structure of the deal that maintains the sustainability and balance of the club.”
Laporta and his team showed off their dexterous abilities by creating a stop-gap that saved them from their financial disarray this season. Furthermore, having secured an exclusive deal with Spotify with ongoing talks with the CVC deal points towards Barca increasing their income by the upcoming season. Laporta is focusing on creating long-term stability at the club.