The end of 2020 was celebrated the world over, including, presumably, in the offices at FC Barcelona.
Given the considerable success enjoyed by the club since the turn of the century – 34 trophies won in total since 2000 – few outside of Catalunya will be lining up for a go on the world’s smallest violin after an extremely rare trophyless year for Blaugrana and their expectant supporters.
Nevertheless, in global super-club terms, 2020 was a truly dismal year for Barcelona, the nadir of which was that humiliating 8-2 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League which was swiftly exacerbated by the Lionel Messi transfer saga. Despite retaining the services of the Argentine and appointing a new manager in Ronald Koeman, matters on the pitch have hardly improved this season; Barcelona were sixth in La Liga by the close of 2020 and their debts stand at – a conservatively estimated – €488m (£450m).
There seems to be more positivity in the air around Camp Nou right now, at least. Barca have won nine and drawn one of their 10 La Liga matches in 2021 to narrow the gap on leaders Atletico Madrid and scraped through their Copa Del Rey semi-final tie against Sevilla in exhilarating fashion, with Gerard Pique netting a 94th-minute equaliser to take it to extra time before Martin Braithwaite scored the winner.
A humiliating defeat to PSG in the Champions League last 16 first leg, though, proved there is much work still to be done. An upcoming election, brought forward due to the resignations of the unpopular former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who was arrested and subsequently released over corruption charges this week, will provide further hope that the good times are not too far away.
After all, Barcelona’s fanbase has grown as disillusioned as their idol in the No 10 shirt at the direction in which the club has been drifting.
When will Barcelona’s presidential election take place?
The election will take place on Sunday 7 March after an original date of Sunday 24 January was postponed.
According to the club, 87,479 members have been called to vote in person on Sunday with a further 22,811 members asked to vote by post, taking the total number of club members to 110,290.
There are 10 polling stations, in total, six of which are within the vicinity of Barcelona: Girona, Lleida, Tarragona, Tortosa, Andorra and Barcelona itself. A further four stations are situated in Madrid, Seville, Valencia and Palma de Mallorca.
Barcelona has taken precautionary Covid-19 measures by issuing set time slots for members to vote while also making it mandatory for in-person voters to wear a mask at all times when casting their votes.
There were nine candidates in the running to replace Bartomeu, but that has since been whittled down to a final three comprising of Joan Laporta, Antoni Freixa and Victor Font.
Joan Laporta
Joan Laporta presided over a successful two-term spell as Barcelona’s president between 2003-10 and similarly to his former foe at Real Madrid Florentino Perez, he is keen for a second crack at the whip.
Back in 2003, Laporta promised to sign David Beckham from Manchester United if he won the election and although he lost out to Perez and Real Madrid in that particular battle, he ended up winning the war by signing Ronaldinho from PSG instead.
Laporta struck gold in signing Ronaldinho who inspired Barcelona to back-to-back La Liga titles and a Champions League crown in 2006. When Ronaldinho’s powers began to wane, Laporta struck gold again by appointing Pep Guardiola as manager, culminating in an unprecedented treble win in 2009.
Like Font, Laporta had made convincing Messi to stay a priority. “He knows what I think. I can only imagine him in a Barcelona shirt and I’ll do everything possible to ensure he continues,” he told the Guardian’s Sid Lowe last month. “We have [to] work hard to continue that beautiful story: Leo Messi and Barcelona.”
In the build-up to Sunday’s election, Laporta has reiterated his stance to keep Messi. “I have a great relationship with Leo and he will consider whatever proposal I make,” he said. “If I don’t win, I am sure that Leo will not stay at Barcelona.
Given Barcelona’s less-than-ideal financial situation, Laporta hasn’t namechecked a big-money incoming star a la Beckham this time around, instead declaring that the “club’s future is La Masia“. However, he has hinted that a move for Sergio Aguero could be forthcoming, should he leave Manchester City this summer.
Victor Font
The 48-year-old entrepreneur is believed to be Laporta’s main rival for the presidency and, as is customary, he has made some bold pledges in an effort to sway voters.
Font has vowed to convince Messi to stay at Barcelona with the club’s greatest ever player now in the final six months of his deal and able to discuss a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside of Spain.
“I’m convinced that with a competitive, exciting and, especially in Messi’s case, long-term project – one that could even go beyond the day that Messi retires – we will convince him to stay,” Font told ESPNFC in December. “Keeping in mind he can speak with other clubs in January, phoning Messi must be one of the priorities.”
Not only has Font set his stall out to keep Barcelona’s all-time leading goalscorer, he has also pledged to bring the club’s top appearance maker Xavi Hernandez back to the club too, this time in a managerial role.
Xavi left Barcelona in 2015 after playing 767 games and winning 25 honours with the club to join Al Sadd where he saw out his playing days before embarking on a management career. Since taking charge in 2019, Xavi has led the Qatari outfit to four trophies.
Font has said that if Xavi is not appointed as manager, he will “pay for every members’ season ticket from my own pocket,” which would seemingly spell bad news for Koeman.
Antoni Freixa
Lawyer Antoni Freixa is regarded as the outsider to win the election but he has sought to drum up support in recent days by aiming a dig at Real Madrid and their long-serving president Florentino Perez.
Splashed across advertising billboards across Barcelona has been the slogan: “I will not allow VARentino to control LaLiga.”
Freixa has also outlined ambitious plans to sign both Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, from Borussia Dortmund and PSG respectively, despite Barcelona’s debts being over €1bn.
What does it mean for Messi’s future?
In August, shortly after the Bayern debacle, Messi sent a burofax to Barcelona outlining his wish to leave the club on a free transfer during the summer window. Messi declared that a desire to “compete at the highest level, win titles and compete in the Champions League,” was the motivating factor behind his decision.
Messi had been under the impression that due to a clause in his contract, he would be entitled to walk away from the club for nothing but the club disputed that on the grounds that he had not informed them of his wish to leave by the expiry date of that clause in June. In the end, Messi backed down, saying he would not “go to war” with the club that he has spent over two decades playing for.
Messi endured a slow start to the campaign, perhaps understandably given events last summer, but he has been in typically sensational form of late. He has scored 19 goals and registered four assists in 23 La Liga games to date.
Although both Font and Laporta seem confident of retaining Messi’s services should they succeed in the election, it seems likely that they will have to convince him of their short-term sporting project, given both his advancing years and Barcelona’s current predicament. Barring a miracle in Paris, Barcelona’s Champions League drought will extend to six years.
Additionally, Barcelona cannot fall back on legal loopholes to keep Messi this time: he is free to leave at the end of his contract on 30 June and will have no shortage of offers. It is up to Barcelona and their incoming president, to make him the best one.
from Football – inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/2LmO9gY
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