Laporta's to blame

Fabregas: Still a Gunner

The way in which Barcelona behaved prior to the presidency change was appalling. Laporta cared more about leaving scorched earth for Sandro.

Graham Hunter
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Joan Laporta may have been responsible for a number of big-name signings during he time as president of Barcelona, but the Revista panel believe his aggressive stance in the pursuit of Cesc Fabregas is the reason the Arsenal midfielder is not at the Nou Camp.

Laporta was replaced by Sandro Rossell - his former advisor - as president in July, and while he was able to secure the signing of Javier Mascherano, Laporta's aggressive pursuit of Fabregas saw him stay with the Gunners for another season.

Speaking on Revista, Graham Hunter said: "The way in which Barcelona behaved prior to the presidency change was appalling. Laporta cared more about leaving scorched earth for Sandro because he doesn't like him. He mishandled it and left an impossible task for the administration that came in."

Guillem Balague agreed, but although a potential deal is dead in the water until January at the earliest, he sees Barca going back in for the 23-year-old.

"Joan Laporta felt he had the perfect strategy to get Cesc Fabregas from Arsenal," said Guillem. "He put so much pressure on Arsenal and Arsene Wenger and felt that eventually they would give up.

"Laporta thought he was getting close but then Sandro Rossell came in, and he changed the strategy. He apologised to Arsenal about the treatment and asked them if they were selling Cesc. At the same time he was putting pressure on Cesc to get out of there, to tell Wenger and the world he wanted to go. But Cesc wouldn't do that, he has a loyalty to Arsenal. And then the momentum was gone.

"Will they come back in for Cesc Fabregas? Without a doubt. I just think Cesc felt Sandro didn't want him enough."

While Fabregas may not have signed, Barcelona softened the blow somewhat with the purchase of Spanish striker David Villa. The former Valencia hitman scored on his debut against Racing Santander as Barca started the season with a comfortable 3-0 win.

Villa's arrival sparked the departure of another striker, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who failed to fit into Barcelona's system. And the Revista panel don't think the Swedish attacker - who joined AC Milan for €24million - will be missed, for both football and financial reasons.

"This is Messi's team," said Guillem. "Barca have a great midfield and a great generation of players coming through the ranks but it is Messi that makes them tick. As Villa said last weekend, if you cannot adapt to Messi you haven't got a place in the team. That's what happened to Ibrahimovic.

"Early on Ibrahamovic told Guardiola that he wanted to be treated just like Messi, like a star. That suggested to Guardiola that he could deal with him as a player, but not as a person. That was very clear when Ibrahimovic said goodbye. He could have said he wasn't able to adapt and that the manager didn't help him do so, but instead he made it a personal issue. He called Guardiola a philosopher and said he had only spoken to him twice in six months."

Graham added: "Barcelona have had to admit their own embarrassment because the operation was financially too big to start with, and in letting him go they've admitted that when they get the €24million and pay the penalty clause at the end of the year, they will have saved €60million across the length of the contact. That tells you the extent of the financial falling.

"Personality and football style accounted for the reasons behind him leaving, but so did the ruinous economics at the Camp Nou."