The president of Barcelona, Joan Laporta, accused the media of misleading the captain Raphinha to make his comments about the club, painting a picture that was not true. The Brazilian publicly noted last week that, due to the club's finances, he too would have doubts about coming to the club.
Last week, Raphinha admitted that Barcelona could not sign Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, if he were to consider joining the club at the time, he would have doubts about signing for them.
“The criticism of the captain is not true. You misled Raphinha, you deceived him. He said that Barça was the best club that could be. It's another thing if they tell you things from outside with a conclusion false, which predicts the apocalypse. The club seemed to be in a position that was not true. The victory on the field and in the offices did not serve to make them lose.”
“Raphinha was devastated. He wanted to praise the greatness of Barca and you only got part of what he said.
Later he referred again Raphinha's wordsclaiming he didn't mean what he said.
“The criticism of Raphinha is not true. He never said what was reported. You only used some of his words, and you know that those were not the spirit of what he was saying.
There is also a lot of speculation about the future of another of Barcelona's captains, Ronald Araujo. Juventus and Arsenal are willing to sign the Uruguayan, and will meet with Deco this week to discuss his future.
“You have to talk to the football director (Deco) of Araujo, he knows the situation of each of the players.”
La Masia's highly promising midfielder Pau Prim could leave the club. He has not yet accepted Barcelona's renewal proposal, and no progress has been made. @jaumemarcet pic.twitter.com/BqPb3QzrIT
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) January 14, 2025
“We want the players of the current team to be very useful and continue. Ronald has a valid contract and we want him to continue. For details that are not known, he will talk to the sporting direction and we will find a solution. We appreciate it very much , especially on a personal level. The direct relationship is very good. There is room to reach a satisfactory solution.”
Araujo he has a contract until 2026, and Barcelona's line has been that they don't want players to start next season out of contract from that date. However, with little progress on a new contract, Araujo understandably began to evaluate his options.
