Directionless FC Barcelona Faces Years In The Wilderness

BARCELONA, SPAIN - SEPTEMBER 02: New transfers of FC Barcelona, Portuguese defender Joao Cancelo (L) ... [+] and Portuguese forward Joao Felix (R) pose for a photo with FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta during their official presentation as FC Barcelona players at the Joan Gamper training ground in Sant Joan Despi, near Barcelona, Spain on September 2, 2023. (Photo by Adria Puig/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

There is a certain irony to Joan Laporta being at the helm of FC Barcelona as it continues to plummet from its position as the undisputed best team in the world a decade ago.

After all, it was he who initially steered the club to that summit when arrived as President in 2003.

Then, as it is now, FC Barcelona was a club in disarray with a side that was overpaid and underperforming. Players like Patrick Kluivert, Marc Overmars and Javier Saviola had arrived with big reputations but failed to deliver a trophy in four years.

Laporta’s vision was bold, he believed the club needed to aim higher. So when it came to transfer targets his list was global stars like David Beckham, Thierry Henry and Ronaldinho.

Whilst the first two might have turned up their noses at joining a club who’d just failed to qualify for the Champions League, the enigmatic Brazilian said yes.

It was a decision that would prove transformative. Paired with Frank Rijkaard, who the new president installed as manager, the club was within three years, for only the second time in its history, champions of Europe.

Ultimately the Dutchman did not establish the dynasty Laporta had hoped, but the man he chose to replace him most certainly did. Elevating a host of youngsters from the B team Pep Guardiola built one of the greatest club sides of all time.

His appointment was one of the last acts of the Laporta presidency as Sandro Rosell replaced him midway through the run which saw two Champions League trophies won in three years.

In 2020, Laporta returned to the club a decade after he kickstarted its greatest era and, unsurprisingly drew from the same playbook to repeat the trick.

He made bold moves to capture the world’s best talent and, although he wasn’t the first choice, employed a man in the same mould as Guardiola; club legend midfielder Xavi.

Reclaiming the La Liga title last season suggested history might begin to repeat itself, despite an embarrassing exit from the Champions League.

However, in this campaign the wheels have really come off, a dismal performance domestically sees the club way off the pace and, whilst progression was secured in Europe, it has been a campaign punctuated with poor results on the continent.

The announcement by Xavi that he would quit the club at the end of the season as the new year began was yet another blow to a club on its knees.

Although, as is often his manner, when the news broke Laporta put a positive spin on it.

"I am looking forward to turning around the situation, which is not pleasant for anyone, but what is needed now is unity,” the President told the club's official media channels after Xavi’s revelation.

"It's true things aren't going as we had planned this season. We won La Liga and the Supercopa last year and, with an improved squad, had bigger expectations for the campaign. But we have not fulfilled those expectations and we must turn the situation around.

"We are grateful for the commitment the fans have shown the team and the club during this period.

"I am sure they understand the situation, the difficulties [the club is having], but the players need them and the role of the fans is going to be fundamental between now and the end of the season."

Laporta praised Xavi, describing him as a “club legend, an honest, dignified person and someone who loves Barça” and has since said that he will not fire the coach before the end of the season “whatever happens.”

Barcelona players dejected after losing the LaLiga EA Sports match between FC Barcelona and ... [+] Villarreal CF at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on January 27, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The question is what will Laporta do now? The club is arguably as bad if not worse state than when he took power.

His policy of landing ambitious targets, which brought the likes of Ronaldinho, Deco and Samuel Eto'o during his first presidency, failed to deliver and too often lumbered Xavi with aging or expensive players.

Ferran Torres, Raphinha, Jules Kounde and Robert Lewandowski were acquired for more than $200 million combined, but have failed to live up to expectations.

Likewise, the mass of free signings and loan acquisitions, like Joao Felix, Franck Kessie, Adama Traore and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, have also been in the vast majority duds.

Even more frustratingly for Xavi, the frenzied transfer activity, which Joan Laporta has funded by selling off chunks of FC Barcelona assets, has failed to address the holes in the squad.

Despite knowing Sergio Busquets needed replacing for years the club squandered money on other positions and when he did leave last summer ended up acquiring Oriol Romeu, who has unsurprisingly proved a below par choice.

But where Laporta is being attacked by his rivals for the presidency is in letting Lionel Messi leave in 2021.

“For me, it’s the greatest mistake of his tenure and in the contemporary history of the club”, his challenger for the position Victor Font said in an interview recently.

“Messi could have been part of a solution and we’re not aware of the sporting cost it meant for Barca.”

Laporta has maintained an upbeat sometimes combative persona regardless of the often substantial challenges his presidency has faced so far.

But you have to wonder whether his ambitious ideas and bet big today for a better tomorrow strategy are what a club in Barcelona’s position right now needs.