Joan Laporta affirms 'we have every confidence in Ronald Koeman'
Joan Laporta discussed the current state of play at FC Barcelona this morning during an interview with Catalan radio programme 'El món a RAC1'. Barça's president reaffirmed his support for Ronald Koeman: "We have every confidence in him, he's our coach, and he deserves some leeway as he believes in the team and hasn't been able to call on the entire squad yet".
Laporta also highlighted that Koeman "has Barça in his heart and is a Barcelona legend who chose to come during difficult times". "He trusts the team implicitly and he told us that he is looking forward to the injured players returning. Ansu Fati has only just returned, and both Dembélé and 'Kun' Agüero are still out", added the president.
"Contract negotiations for Pedri and Ansu Fati are going well"
On the players, Joan Laporta explained that the aim "is to renew (the contracts of) the young players in the squad". "Contract negotiations for Pedri and Ansu Fati are going well. We hope to share the good news next week", he advanced.
Laporta also spoke about Sergi Roberto's contract extension, confirming that "he showed his true Barcelona spirit by agreeing to a pay cut, we are restructuring his contract, and we just need to tie up a few loose ends". He reminded that the other captains - Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba - already took similar pay cuts.
Lastly, Barça's president detailed the intention to "pay tribute to Messi so that every Barcelona fan can acknowledge all that he did for the Club, he deserves that". He also had a few words of acknowledgement for Pau Gasol: "He is a player with an outstanding track record of winning who has always been appreciated. We'll team up with Pau in the future".