Photo credit: Francesc Adelantado
In an interview with TV3, Bartomeu softens his criticism on VAR and hopes that the team wins La Liga, because the players are not ready to give up yet.
The president of FC Barcelona, Josep María Bartomeu gave an interview to TV3 where he was asked about Setién. He assured that the coach will guide the team in the remaining matches of La Liga and also the Champions League. But when he was asked about whether the coach will continue next season, the president limited his answer to “we hope he fulfills his contract”.
“Quique Setién will lead the team in the rest of the League and in the Champions League. Our will is to fulfill the contract with Setién. When we approached him this season, we had a plan for the future in mind,” said the president on the Onze program.
“If we had to change the coach, Abidal and Planes will decide the list of possible candidates” and in this sense he acknowledged that “Xavi will be Barcelona coach sooner or later but at this time I can assure that we are not looking for a coach.”, he added.
When asked about the current state of La Liga, the president was hopeful despite the disadvantage with respect to Madrid.
“There are always options to win La Liga, you have to fight until the last minute, the players are not ready to give up and want to win this League. The VAR has not made it more difficult; we have had setbacks that have made us lose the leadership. There have been decisions that have favoured the rival but we want the criteria to be clearer. We are in favour of technology”.
“At no time I have regretted the decision of replacing Valverde. The change was needed. Setién has been unfortunate regarding the pandemic and he has been affected by it. Internally I have seen positive changes in many things such as training and group management”, he added.
When questioned about future signings, he does not see Neymar being available in the market.
“we do not think that PSG will put Neymar on the market. It is going to be an unusual market, because all the teams have had huge losses. We have to wait until the end of the season to see how the things turn out.”
About Messi’s continuity at the club: “Leo Messi fits in with what Barça wants to do in the coming years, his contract ends in June next year and he is in great shape to play two or three more years. I have no doubt that he will continue. Our relationship is smooth and he is not angry. What happened in the pay cut is that some people inside the club talked too much, but now they are gone.”
Finally, about the naming rights of Camp Nou: “we are finalizing talks with two international companies to sponsor the stadium.”
