• 'Mourinho wanted to come to Barcelona' - Laporta
    15:25 | 05/08/2013

    The former Barca president has revealed the current Chelsea manager wanted the job at the Catalan giants before joining rivals Real Madrid, and also criticised Sandro Rosell

    186403_heroa

    Joan Laporta says Jose Mourinho is a fan of Barcelona and wanted to join the Catalan side, but that Pep Guardiola was a better option for the club.

    The former Barca president, who was in charge between 2003-2010, insists the current Chelsea boss was on the Catalan giants’ radar during Laporta’s presidency, but that Guardiola’s style of management fit better with the Liga champions’ philosophy.

    “Mourinho is a little bit of a Culé and he wanted to come to Barcelona, but it wasn’t possible because we had decided to sign Guardiola as coach,” he told El Pais.

    Laporta’s feud with Sandro Rosell was once again highlighted, with the 51-year-old branding the current Barca president as “neurotic and immature” only last month.

    Now, he says Rosell’s handling of Guardiola, the man who won 14 titles in four years at the club, was an important factor behind the coach’s exit from the Catalan side, and also spoke of his own respect for Real Madrid chief Florentino Perez.

    “I respect Florentino, and I’m not a friend of the current Barcelona chairman Rosell because all he has done has hurt me since he arrived,” he continued.

    “He [Guardiola] was forced to take up roles that weren’t in his remit. Pep had a lot of character and Rosell and his group weren’t interested in that. Moreover, he reminded them too much of our term [Laporta’s presidency] at Barcelona.”

    Laporta also gave his thoughts on new €57 million signing Neymar, who had to accept starting on the bench before coming on against Santos, as Barcelona thrashed his former club 8-0 in Gerardo Martino’s debut as coach.

    He added: “Neymar is very talented and I like that he has come to support the team and Messi. However, I also hope that Leo feels as comfortable as possible.”

    According to Goal

Portrait of famous people
  • Coach Le Huynh Duc
    Le Huynh Duc  is former captain of Vietnamese national Football team. He is currently coaching SHB Ðà Nẵng.
  • Sir Alex Ferguson
    Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is to retire at the end of the season.
  • Striker Le Cong Vinh
    Striker Le Cong Vinh is playing for SLNA
  • Lionel Messi
    Lionel Messi became the best scorer in a year with 91 goals in 2012.
Ads
  • Milo
  • Thai Son Nam Trading Co.,Ltd
  •  CLB Thai Sơn Nam
  • vff
  • LS-VINA Cable & System
  • Dong Luc Sports JSC
  • Vietnam Export Import Bank (Eximbank)