Bartomeu: 'The best thing is to combine experience with youth'
Josep Maria Bartomeu has reviewed sporting and institutional news during an interview with Sport. The president of FC Barcelona has spoken about the current squad, Barça's youth players, the economic situation at the club and Arthur.
The current squad
"They are the best. They play very well, they train well, they try hard and they have ambition. The best thing is to combine experience with youth. They keep the ambition intact and the desire to win alive"
Young talent
"The most beautiful thing in football is to combine the experienced players who have been winning for many years with those youngsters who come with the desire to win"
"Another batch of youngsters are coming: three players, including Matheus, and three who have risen from the B team. The arrival of seven players in a year, counting Pjanic, isn't bad"
"Araujo, Riqui Puig and Ansu Fati will be first team players. At the moment we haven't discussed any more, but there is still a long way to go. The pre-season remains, for example, and there will be many B team players to look at”
Signings
“We had been following Pjanic for a long time. He was always delighted with the possibility of coming to Barça and it wasn't a surprise signing. He will easily integrate himself as an important player”
"Barça have spoken with Inter about Lautaro, but the talks have stopped. The situation doesn't invite large investments"
"Neymar? In this situation, it's unfeasible. Nor does PSG want to sell him"
The economic situation
“The club lost 200 million euros between March and June. In the 2020/21 season we expected to post 1.1 billion euros, but we'll have 30 percent less”
“If the situation of the pandemic doesn't improve, there will be no spectators, no museum, no stores open, and money will continue to be lost. It forces us to be very rigorous in management: we must review which investments are essential and which can wait”
"All the big European clubs are affected. Everyone works to adapt. And this isn't going to last a year, but three or four"
Arthur
"The decision to leave Barça was made by Arthur. We would've had to renew his contract now, but the economic situation made it very difficult to sign any renewals”
“We reached the agreement that until the Champions League ended, he would continue playing for Barça. He could help us. But he didn't return from his mini-break so we have opened a file on him”
Barça B
"We believe that players can grow in both the Segunda División B and Segunda A"
“On an economic level it's different: in Segunda A, teams are more professional and the income is higher. In Segunda B, Barça invests more than it receives. But what counts is the sporting aspect"