Joan Laporta, the president of Barcelona, has avoided the heat thus far. But last week, it became known that Laporta will be part of the bribery case brought against the team and two past presidents for giving €7.3 million to Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira, the former vice-president of the referees committee.
Despite this, Laporta exudes a sense of ease, maybe due to his genuine confidence or political charm. In spite of a court magistrate’s statement that “logically it could be presumed that Barcelona were getting the results they wanted from those payments” from a “group of corrupt referees,” he instructed Barcelona supporters to do precisely that on Thursday, stating that he anticipated the case to be archived. There are some unanswered concerns regarding Barcelona and Laporta, but only time will tell.
In other news, Real Madrid players have been swooning over Jude Bellingham for the whole week, in what is arguably the biggest love-in in the Spanish capital. They also believe that Arda Guler has the potential to be another superstar. After an injury, the 18-year-old Turkish wonderkid may finally make his debut this weekend, but he’s already been compared to Messi.
Real Madrid and Barcelona are both attempting to sign one of Messi’s favourite colleagues in the meantime. Manchester City’s Julian Alvarez had previously been associated with Barcelona, and this week, there have been many rumours claiming that the two Clasico players have discussed a potential transfer with their representatives. It usually indicates that his agency believes he deserves a better deal, or one elsewhere, regardless of whether Manchester City is amenable to it.
When the international break arrives, so do the layoffs. Vicente Moreno has left Almeria and has been replaced by Gaizka Garitano. He will be aiming to turn things around for their excellent young team, because only Real Madrid spent more (net) this summer. This season, Sevilla has had four managers; Europa League champion Jose Luis Mendilibar had a brief but bittersweet tenure, barely lasting six months. Diego Alonso, a former manager of Uruguay and Inter Miami, has assumed the role, although he has a challenging assignment as well.
Lastly, in 2024, Spain, Portugal, and Morocco will host the World Cup. Amidst much sniffing from Catalans, it looks the Santiago Bernabeu will host the final. Spain has also decided on eight of its 10 or eleven competition locations.
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