Barcelona President Joan Laporta planning to run again and has Premier League ‘election signings’ in mind

Barcelona President Joan Laporta has not had the easiest of mandates during his third term in charge of the club, and pressure on him has grown since the Xavi Hernandez sacking debacle. However he still plans to compete for another mandate in charge come election time in 2026.

Already he is making medium and long-term plans at the club, and has discussed trying to recruit a star to lead him into the elections. Big signings have been a consistent part of the Laporta handbook since arriving on the scene, first promising David Beckham but signing Ronaldinho, then sanctioning deals for Thierry Henry and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

When he returned to the campaign trail in 2020, he promised to retain Lionel Messi, and the following year sold significant assets in order to be able to sign Raphinha, Jules Kounde and Robert Lewandowski as the face of his second spell.

Flick does not consider Cancelo to be very tactically disciplined and believes that Frimpong would help strengthen the right flank and could even serve as a back-up to Lamine Yamal on the right wing. @DBR8

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 26, 2024

Two of the names that Sport say have been mentioned for either 2025 or 2026 are City’s Julian Alvarez and Erling Haaland, although the latter may be out of their price range. Alvarez has a contract until 2028, but Laporta and several others in the board feel he would fit Barcelona like a glove.

Alvarez was an option for Barcelona before his move to City, but they opted to sign Ferran Torres instead. He is reportedly open to leaving Manchester City this summer, with a lack of first-team football at the Eithad, but whether anyone commits to paying City what they demand is another matter. One minor problem they might encounter – his preferred destination is Real Madrid.