Today, Barcelona Chairman Laporta was interviewed by the World Sports and talked about the inside story of negotiations with Rashford, Louis Dias and Nico Williams this summer.
Asked: About choosing Rashford in the end?
Laporta: "It's really a more complicated situation, because opinions from all parties are coming. There were several options at the time, and I was very satisfied because we finally got my favorite choice. Admittedly, I also like Louis Dias, who is a very comprehensive player, but due to his situation and Liverpool's firmness to let go, it's difficult to operate, but I thank the players for always being willing to join."
"The situation with Nico Williams also happened. Given that Louis Dias was difficult and we were negotiating with Rashford, Nico's agent took the initiative to propose the possibility of us signing him. Deco mentioned this to me, and at first I was more inclined to advance the other two options, but in these cases, I always listened to the opinions of the sports management department. He said at least it should be heard, because Nico Ko is an interesting player because he is competent for the wing. "
" Negotiations have been underway, but from what they initially informed us to the actual conditions proposed in the end, especially in terms of payment terms, broker commissions and a series of additional terms, these situations have shown that the transaction is unlikely to be completed. "
" Deco set a 48-hour 'deadline', and if the other party does not accept our conditions, we will not do this. The final deal failed. At the same time, we pushed forward two other options in parallel (Rashford and Louis Dias), and the situation on Rashford is gradually becoming clearer. "
Question: Back to Nico Williams, do you think La Liga favors Bilbao by providing Barcelona's economic information to Jon Uriat (Bilbao Chairman)?
Laporta: "No, La Liga has not favored Bilbao. I don't know if Bilbao has really tried to stop him from coming to Barcelona. Although I guess they will do this, it was not Bilbao that stopped him from joining Barcelona, nor was Nico not wanting to come, but the conditions proposed by the other party are unacceptable to us."
"The sports management department must work on all possible options. I understand, respect and agree with this, but in the final result, I want to congratulate our sports management chief Deco and his team on successfully signing Rashford. For the others (players), thank them for their interest in joining Barcelona."
source:7m live