Barcelona does not intend to allocate eighty million euros for City’s Bernardo Silva, president Joan Laporta assures. Particularly in the past transfer window, the attacking midfielder and right winger was associated with Barcelona.
Barcelona was not the only club interested in the summer. In August, AS reported that Paris Saint-Germain had made an offer of eighty million euros for the Portuguese. That is too much money, says Laporta. “We are not going to pay eighty million euros for Bernardo Silva,” he said in an interview with Cadena SER.
One of Silva’s teammates is also being watched by the European top. Is the arrival of Erling Haaland realistic for Barcelona? The president said, “We’ll see how he does at Manchester City. We have Robert Lewandowski, who is doing very well at the moment.” When asked, Laporta does not want to make a choice between Haaland or Kylian Mbappé. “I’m going for Dembele and Lewandowski,” he answered wittily.
Laporta can also say little about a possible return of Lionel Messi to Camp Nou. Since his departure in 2021, that rumour has regularly cropped up. “At the moment he is a PSG player and I prefer not to talk about him. We focus on Barca. Leo will always be part of this club and we would have liked him to have left in a different way,” he replied.
According to Laporta, Barcelona already has a good selection at the moment. He therefore does not expect major winter purchases. “Nothing will happen unless an unexpected opportunity arises. We did the necessary work in the summer and the trainer is pleased with it. Our team is capable of winning prizes this season,” Laporta concluded.
The Super League
It will be known in a few months whether this will happen again. Laporta is hopeful that the European Court will come to a different verdict. He expects a decision in March or April. “It will be a very important statement and I think the clubs will benefit from it. The Super League will be an open competition. I wouldn’t have taken on the project if it wasn’t open competition,” he explains.
He added, “We want the clubs to be in control. I also hope that UEFA is represented on the board. If the verdict is in our favour, I expect the Super League to be a reality in 2025.” He also hopes to welcome the top English clubs, despite the fact that they have pulled their hands off the project en masse. Laporta concludes, “I don’t think the English clubs are part of it right away, but we want them to be there. I think it will be fine at a later stage.”
