Laporta’s Crisis Play: How a Bold Move Turned Barca’s Setback into a Springboard
2 February 2026
Laporta's Crisis Play
Joan Laporta, the president of FC Barcelona, is renowned for improvisation under pressure, and he has again turned the departure of a player into a strategic move. The move sparked anger within Barca, as the club had counted on the player for the future.
According to AS, selling the midfielder to Paris Saint-Germain for 8.5 million euros, a premium beyond the contract clause, allowed Barca to secure a 19 million euro guarantee recorded last summer to back future signings such as Marcus Rashford and Roni Bardji, with Bardji initially registered with the reserve team.
Financial Fair Play and The Road Ahead
The higher guarantee tightens Barca's position under financial fair play rules and brings them closer to the 1 to 1 rule the club hopes to implement this summer, enabling meaningful moves such as a top striker like Julian Alvarez, a priority for the sports director Deco, before Rashford's arrival.
To support financial stability, Barca also reportedly received final approval for the Barcelona City project in the UAE, a two-pronged plan featuring a residential and commercial complex in Dubai and four towers bearing the club brand in Abu Dhabi.
Sources say Barca may have already received an upfront payment of about 11 million euros, but the deal still needs to be approved by the Delegate Assembly in the summer, contingent on the March 15 elections. If Laporta is not re-elected, the agreement could collapse.
At this stage, Barca would still have a single outstanding guarantee of seven million euros related to budget variance across departments, which had prevented strengthening the basketball squad for example.
Punchline 1: If budgets came with a save button, Laporta would press it during every crisis. Punchline 2: Barca transfers are like a long game of Tetris, always hoping the blocks fit just right.
