October 27 will mark a year since the resignation of the former president of FC Barcelona and his name still comes out to talk about the current situation. In part, it is for this reason that it has wanted to attend two outlets of great media reach such as Sport and Sports world Recently. We review some of his most prominent statements in both spaces.
One of the most criticized aspects of his stage is the amount of losses in the club’s accounts beyond the impact of COVID-19, on which he has commented: “We want to emphasize the impact it has had since March 2020, when revenues fell suddenly, from one day to the next. There the club stops entering to pay salaries and even suppliers. (…) The COVID effect has been 225 million euros. With everything subtracted, we obtain that the tax loss would have been 50 million. The club is neither bankrupt nor insolvent. The losses have not been created by mismanagement, but by the effect of the pandemic. “
Something important when there is so much negative number in the club’s economy is to see what actions are taken to try to reverse the situation, on this, he has mentioned measures that his board had in mind and the decision he would take in case of being in the shoes of that of Joan Laporta: “There were two projects. Barça Corporate incorporated 220 million to the club, but the club decided not to do it, and then the CVC with The league, 230 million. If they had accepted it, the accounts would have changed. The club would have a treasury for some operation. “
Another fact that has often been criticized is the high salary scale of the Barça club’s footballers, with very high figures in veteran players and a fairly high relationship with income. Regarding that decision, acknowledge the following: “It is true that for many years we have been growing in income, the one that has grown the most in the world, and what we did was associate that income, a percentage, between 65% and 70%, was to pay the salary of our athletes. And we have always taken that to the limit, it is true, but fulfilling what the UEFA and LaLiga. We wanted to retain talent and have the best possible players. Those income came, to a greater extent, from sporting successes. “
Something common in the vast majority of media amplifiers is dissatisfaction with his time as president between 2015 and 2020, being a complicated five-year period just after a triplet. However, he mentions receiving the affection of people on the street and claims to be happy with what he has done: “On the street they stop me and ask me for photos. At times there have been unfortunate phrases in some media that do not conform to reality. Barça continues to be the club in the world that enters the most thanks to a good base, good executives, good employees”.
The renovation of the Camp Nou and the creation of this space are two of the most urgent measures at the patrimonial level for the club, something that the former president wanted to make clear that it is not a directive proposal, but a club proposal: “It is essential that it be done. We could not start earlier because the permits did not arrive. If they had arrived earlier, the stadium would have been remodeled and would almost be finished. It was impossible to contact construction companies and other companies in the midst of a pandemic.”
The unsuccessful attempt, to date, to hold a competition between some of the most prominent clubs in the world, had Josep Maria Bartomeu at the helm of the club when it was decided to move forward with the proposal in 2016. On this, he continues to see it as something positive: “I was one of the people who started working on it. It was then that the rights of the Champions and Europa League were practically doubled. It is an interesting project, as long as the domestic leagues are respected. We need Barça to get stronger.”
The former president was the one who decided to sign the Dutch coach for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons despite the fact that his mandate did not reach the end of the current course. Joan Laporta could not find an alternative and chose to give him confidence. Regarding his performance so far this year, Bartomeu highlights how difficult it is to act after the departure of Lionel Messi: “They have let him go and it seems like a bad decision to me. Playing without him represents changing a lot of things. Koeman is ready, but you have to be patient to build a team without the best player in the world. The squad is very talented.”
The highlight in the last transfer window was the free march of Lionel Messi, with the incorporation of free footballers to a greater extent due to economic difficulties. On these movements, he has not wanted to be critical: “There is a clear commitment to grassroots football, for young people. The mistake is to have let Messi go. He would have made the same effort to continue as in the summer of 2020. The commitment to young people excites us as partners, apart from some media signing. We have left a generation of young people as an inheritance that is going to be consolidated in a short time. “