Xtra Time Web Desk: Newly elected Barcelona President Joan Laporta made it absolutely clear is the new club management will try and convince Lionel Messi to stay at the club. The Argentine superstar is tipped to leave the Catalan club after his contract finishes at the end of the season.
“The fact that the best player in the world came to vote today, along with his son, is proof that Leo loves Barça,” Laporta said. ”Together we will convince him to stay.”
Laporta defeated businessman Víctor Font and longtime board member Toni Freixa, the other two candidates who were among the more than 110,000 members eligible to vote. The election was held just days after the club’s last elected president — Josep Maria Bartomeu — spent a night in jail while Catalan police investigated possible irregularities during his administration. Bartomeu has denied any wrongdoing. Laporta won with 54% of the votes, with Font coming second with nearly 30% and Freixa on 8%. Turnout was 55,611.
The election, which was postponed from January because of the coronavirus pandemic, caps a week in which the club made worldwide headlines after a police raid at the team’s headquarters led to arrests and further embarrassment for an institution that has long prided itself as “more than a club.”
Laporta, who has a five-year term, was the team’s president between 2003-2010, during Messi’s breakout seasons for the senior team. The 58-year-old Laporta has said all along during his campaign that he was the best candidate to convince the playmaker to stay.