Josep Maria Bartomeu: Naming rights partner 'will probably bring us half of the investment' for Espai Barça

FC Barcelona President, Josep Maria Bartomeu, who was in London this week ahead of Barça's Champions League match against Chelsea, made a visit to Bloomberg studios in the British capital to talk to one of the world's leaders in business news and information. During the interview, Mr. Bartomeu discussed the Club's current state of affairs, including its solid economic standing and its main goals for the future that will allow it to continue among the elite of world football.

• "Really, our interest is to be closer to the people, closer to the fans."

• "We have an office in Hong Kong, we have offices in New York...we have 39 schools around the world right now on five continents."

• "We are close to the companies. We have a strategic regional partnership program which is working very well...we have a social commitment with our Foundation, [through which]1 million children benefitted from our programs in 58 countries."

• "We have developed a new program which is called the Barça innovation Hub...a way of sharing information we have with the world and young people."

• "Value does not interest the members of the Club, because we will never sell the Club. It’s impossible to sell the Club because it’s owned by 145,000 members."

• "Beko was the last [sponsor] that we renewed our agreement with...the next steps are the naming rights to the stadium."

• Espai Barça is a total renewal of the stadium, but not only the stadium, also part of the city of Barcelona, because we will have a new arena."

• "The total investment of €600 million...there are two of three companies we are talking to...our partner will probably bring us half of the investment."

• "The target was for 2021, but with the way things are going I think we are going to reach €1 billion before 2021, which is good news for the members of the club and also means that the football industry is growing."

• "One of the objectives of the Club is to earn money every year, of course, because we have to reinvest that money in players and real estate."

• "At the youth academy, La Masia, the main objective is to create new players and to teach them not only as players, but also as people."

• "I would like to say it’s going to stay [at this level] but I’m not sure about this because, you know, more and more clubs belong to very rich people and to countries, which are investing a lot of money in football."

• "This season we invested more because of Neymar's exit, but our Strategic Plan is to invest €60 million more than we get from transfers."

• "It’s more and more difficult to go to the market and bring the best players to our club...our objective is to go for young players, teach them our football and bring them to our first team."

• "We want to play good football, practice it in a unique way, and Leo Messi is our key player."

• "Andrés Iniesta is an example. We want him here not just as a player, but as a legend. And I hope it's the same with Messi. He has a four-year deal, but I don't think it will be his last deal."

• "Our main competitor is the Premier League. They have more revenues and an incredible global expansion."

• "We want to increase our Champions League revenues."