Barça election: Laporta cautious as Victor Font touts Haaland link and Flick uncertainty | OneFootball

Barcelona’s socios vote on Sunday to choose the club’s next president, with incumbent Joan Laporta and challenger Victor Font taking sharply different tacks. Talk around Erling Haaland and Hansi Flick has helped frame a heated end to the campaign.

An accomplished orator and lawyer, Laporta has been in charge since 2021 and can point to a national treble last season, superiority over Real Madrid despite Kylian Mbappé’s arrival, and a popular Spotify Camp Nou rebuild. Criticism lingers over transparency on La Liga registrations under financial fair play and unfulfilled promises, including Lionel Messi’s 2021 renewal.

This time Laporta has avoided pledges, unlike 2003 when he floated David Beckham. Font has been expansive. According to As, he argued Manchester City do not wish to sell Haaland yet accept it may be hard to keep him long term, said Real Madrid cannot sign him but Barça can, and claimed Haaland sees Carles Planchart as a second father. Planchart, formerly Pep Guardiola’s video analyst at City, is part of Font’s team.

A meeting in Madrid between Planchart and Manchester City director Ferran Soriano sparked speculation, later cooled by Haaland’s agent Rafaela Pimenta, an ally of Laporta, who said there had been no contact regarding the player.

Font also leans on support from Xavi and Albert Puig, the ex-La Masia chief credited with recruiting Lamine Yamal, Marc Bernal and Alejandro Balde. After taking 29.99% in 2021, he has turned combative, saying the 2003 Laporta would seek to censure the 2026 version, likening them to Kennedy and Trump.

If Laporta wins, change is expected to be limited to a few directors. If Font prevails, sweeping shifts would start with sporting director Deco’s exit amid a legal dispute over comments on Vitor Roque’s 2023 transfer. In solidarity with Deco and close to Laporta, Hansi Flick could choose to leave this summer if Font takes office. There is no second round.

Source: L'Équipe