Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta has pledged to make Liverpool's iconic anthem You'll Never Walk Alone the slogan of La Masia, if he is once again re-elected.
The 58-year-old former chief is bidding to return next year and take over at Barca in the aftermath of Josep Maria Bartomeu's controversial departure. And Laporta insisted he will ring the changes throughout the club, stemming down as far as the famed La Masia school of football, which has started to perform poorly in recent years. The Masia academy is renowned for producing some of the world's finest footballers, including the likes of Andreas Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi. But a period of stagnation has seen the talent line dry up at Barca, with all prospective club presidents now vowing to make its rebirth a matter of urgent priority.
Outlining his manifesto on his personal website, Laporta said: 'La Masia will be a personalised accompaniment to the player, under the slogan of "you will never walk alone". 'We want it to become a Centre for High Performance and Sport Excellence, but also for personal development, where the treatment of athletes is not generic but one-on-one. We will do this with special care for the values that make up strong personalities and that we can be proud of: we want athletes who love Barca.'
During his last stint in charge at Barca Laporta oversaw the most prolific period in the club’s history, after hiring Pep Guardiola as first team manager and insisting the team be sculpted around Lionel Messi. Laporta has also pledged to do his utmost to ensure Messi stays at the club, despite his wishes to depart in the summer. The football legend will become a free agent at the end of the current campaign, and can begin to negotiate with European clubs from January.
The club's move to replicate Liverpool is likely to be questioned in some quarters, with many fans and pundits of the opinion that Barca's recent decline truly kicked in following the club's Champions League semi-final defeat by the Reds in May 2019.
The 58-year-old former chief is bidding to return next year and take over at Barca in the aftermath of Josep Maria Bartomeu's controversial departure. And Laporta insisted he will ring the changes throughout the club, stemming down as far as the famed La Masia school of football, which has started to perform poorly in recent years. The Masia academy is renowned for producing some of the world's finest footballers, including the likes of Andreas Iniesta, Gerard Pique, Cesc Fabregas, Xavi Hernandez and Lionel Messi. But a period of stagnation has seen the talent line dry up at Barca, with all prospective club presidents now vowing to make its rebirth a matter of urgent priority.
Outlining his manifesto on his personal website, Laporta said: 'La Masia will be a personalised accompaniment to the player, under the slogan of "you will never walk alone". 'We want it to become a Centre for High Performance and Sport Excellence, but also for personal development, where the treatment of athletes is not generic but one-on-one. We will do this with special care for the values that make up strong personalities and that we can be proud of: we want athletes who love Barca.'
During his last stint in charge at Barca Laporta oversaw the most prolific period in the club’s history, after hiring Pep Guardiola as first team manager and insisting the team be sculpted around Lionel Messi. Laporta has also pledged to do his utmost to ensure Messi stays at the club, despite his wishes to depart in the summer. The football legend will become a free agent at the end of the current campaign, and can begin to negotiate with European clubs from January.
The club's move to replicate Liverpool is likely to be questioned in some quarters, with many fans and pundits of the opinion that Barca's recent decline truly kicked in following the club's Champions League semi-final defeat by the Reds in May 2019.
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