Xavi Vilajoana formally announced this Thursday that he wants to be president of Barça. The former director, who resigned en bloc along with the rest of Bartomeu’s board at the end of October, has surprised by assuring that if he wins the election, the first thing he will do is “open the windows”. A statement, however, which he later clarified did not mean literally breaking with the past but only bringing new faces and a new approach to Barça’s decision-making.
The businessman, who was on the boards of Joan Laporta (2003-05), Sandro Rosell (2010-15) and Josep Maria Bartomeu (2015-20), has presented this accumulated experience as his great guarantee to be a candidate. He has avoided reproaching his predecessors and has simply said that he “disagreed” with some decisions taken, but without specifying many, and that if he had not raised his voice before it was because he does not like to “impose” the his judgment and recalled that he was part of a “collegiate board.”
I define myself as a club man
The presentation, in virtual format, lasted approximately one hour and Vilajoana was shown as a transversal figure, with references to Cruyff and Guardiola, and emphasizing his facet as a former player of the lower categories of Barça (va get to the now defunct Barça C) and the futsal team, where he came to wear the captain’s armband. “I define myself as a club man. I’ve been there whenever I’ve been asked, regardless of the board. My desire has been to work for Barça. I’ve had it in my heart since I was a child.”
Project, instead of names
He considers that he is “ready” for this challenge, although for now he did not want to specify who will accompany him in the electoral race. He assured that his program “will not be about names, but about a project” and that he is looking for “trusted people, who say what they think, who are honest and very involved”.
It has not been, however, a presentation full of headlines, no matter how much there has been an insistence on re-asking about some statements, such as the one referring to opening the windows. “I want to add, not break.” He also did not speak ill of Bartomeu or want to comment on the role of the management board. From the political position he has come to say that Barça must be “close to the people of Catalonia” but without going any further. And about his personality, and in reference to the tweet during the classic in which he sent “to shit” the referee, he has said that he is not considered “a hooligan“and that in that comment he had been” wrong in the forms. “
Messi? Before saying A, B or C, it is very important to inform yourself in the first person
As for his own names, he did not want to venture to say anything about Leo Messi, beyond that, if he wins, he will sit down with him and agree with the captain on his future. “Before saying whether A, B or C, it’s very important to find out in person.” Vilajoana has trusted coach Ronald Koeman, who believes he needs more time “to develop his project”. And about Ramon Planes, the technical secretary, he thinks that no decision should be made until the end of the season.
Vilajoana is added to the list of pre-candidates, where there are already Agustí Benedito, Toni Freixa, Víctor Font, Emili Rousaud, Jordi Farré, Lluís Fernández Alà and Pere Riera. To these must be added three more names that will be presented in the coming days: Joan Laporta and Juan Rosell.
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