Joan Laporta, presidential candidate of FC Barcelona, has responded to recent criticism from former coach Xavi Hernandez following comments made during an electoral debate organised by Grupo Godo.
Xavi had earlier launched a strong criticism of Laporta in an interview with La Vanguardia, accusing the club president of blocking a potential return of Lionel Messi to Barcelona in 2023 and claiming that Laporta’s close aide, Alejandro Echevarria, holds significant influence within the club.
Speaking during the debate, Laporta said he was surprised and hurt by the remarks made by the former midfielder and manager while defending his decision to replace him with Hansi Flick.
“I was surprised and hurt. When I see these statements from Xavi, I think of Flick. It’s hard to be president of Barça and you have to make difficult decisions. I did what I had to do,” said Laporta.
Continuing, he added: “With Xavi, I saw that we were going to lose, and with Flick, I see that we are going to win. I understand that he is hurt. With the same players, Xavi was losing, and Flick is winning.”
Laporta also suggested that Xavi was being influenced by another Barcelona presidential candidate, Victor Font.
“It hurts me that he allowed himself to be used and that he attacked Alejandro Echevarria to hurt me. Echevarría and Yuste defended Xavi’s continuity until the end,” he said.
“Behind Xavi, there is someone who is using him, and that is Víctor Font. He is trying to muddy the waters. The complaint from a member also worked in his favour, it gave him credibility.”
Reaffirming his stance on major decisions taken during his presidency, Laporta said: “These are the three hardest decisions I’ve ever made. Messi, Ronald Koeman and Xavi. I did it with Barça’s interests at heart. I had two of them as players and these are decisions you have to make. They are legends of Barça.
“Barça cannot be run with a computer, it’s about feeling. Barça is above players and presidents.”
Addressing Xavi’s comments about his dismissal, Laporta said: “Xavi explains in the interview the reasons why I fired him. He became complacent and couldn’t balance his professional and personal life.
“He said that Barça wouldn’t be competitive with Real Madrid C.F.. He asked to change players, and I told him he couldn’t continue. Important players that he didn’t see as competitive. Xavi was dissatisfied with the squad and the referees.
“He said the squad wasn’t competitive. It was a recurring theme.”
On the issue of Messi’s potential return, Laporta added: “It was the same with Messi: when we couldn’t renew his contract, due to financial reasons, in 2023 he told me that Messi wanted to return.
“I sent the contract to Jorge Messi, who later came to my house and told me that he would have too much here – ‘pressure.’”
