Joan Laporta would like to extend the contract with coach Hansi Flick as soon as possible. However, the president will have to wait until after the season. In another matter, his patience seems to be at an end.
For Joan Laporta, things couldn’t go fast enough. The re-elected president of FC Barcelona made this clear back in mid-March when he made a public statement regarding the extension of coach Hansi Flick’s contract. “We will announce the contract extension with Flick shortly. It will be another season – until 2028,” the 63-year-old publicly announced on RAC1.
However, Flick himself put the brakes on shortly afterwards, confirming that he needed time to talk to his family about it. The plan for the long-term future still had to mature. However, Flick has already stated that Barcelona will be his last club as coach.
In an interview with Mon Esport, Laporta also “updated” the schedule: “Hansi would prefer to analyze the situation at the end of the season and then decide what to do next.” Flick does not feel “this need” to sign quickly.
For Laporta, this is just a sign that he has the right man on the sidelines in Flick: “He is a man who is very honest with himself and very professional. I think he deserves the contract extension, but he would rather talk about it at the end of the season, analyze the situation and decide how to proceed. If we do another year, he already has it in the bag.”
Laporta thinks he knows what could also be a factor in why Flick is still hesitating. “I think he feels that someone might think he would slack off if he had a contract for many years,” said the Catalans’ president.
“We should push FIFA somehow”
On the subject of Raphinha, Laporta’s mood worsened. The Brazilian, who is so important for Flick’s game, suffered an injury with the national team and is expected to be out for five weeks. This means he will definitely not be available for the three important upcoming clashes with Atletico Madrid in La Liga and the Champions League, which Laporta described as “very annoying”.
“We should somehow urge FIFA to draw up an international fixture list that takes into account the competitions of the top clubs,” he demanded: “Of course, you can’t shift the responsibility onto the players. They are full professionals and give their all for their country.“
The friendlies come at an extremely inopportune time in the season, ”when we are fighting for our lives. I’m outraged, but it’s also very complicated to deal with.” Laporta referred to a “historic debate” that has been going on for a long time. “The clubs wanted the right to be involved in drawing up the international match calendar for the national teams. That was never resolved.” At the same time, it is FIFA that is initiating more and bigger competitions. “The Spanish Football Association has to talk to FIFA – we clubs have very little influence.”
