Joan Laporta has always known how to surround himself with people who are well connected in the game and who can help him out with whatever he’d need.
Laporta has maintained these friendships over the years and now that he has been re-elected as Barcelona president, he’s set to call upon the likes of Pini Zahavi, Mino Raiola and Jorge Mendes to try and help him rebuild this Barcelona team.
Laporta and Zahavi
Zahavi is an experienced agent who knows the transfer market well and his relationship with Laporta goes right back to his first stint as president at Barcelona in 2003.
He attempted to convince David Beckham to opt for the Camp Nou instead of Real Madrid back in 2003, but the deal was already done with the capital city side and Barcelona instead signed Ronaldinho.
Zahavi was also instrumental in Neymar‘s big money move to Paris Saint Germain and Laporta was a guest at his daughter’s wedding.
The pair met two weeks ago alongside another agent, Fali Ramadani, and Laporta left the meeting with high hopes of signing David Alaba from Real Madrid. It seems unlikely that Zahavi would give such a close friend false hope despite the fact Alaba has agreed a deal with Los Blancos.
Laporta and Mendes
Mendes helped bring a raft of top players to Barcelona including Portuguese star Deco and he almost brought in Cristiano Ronaldo at a knockdown price before he moved to Manchester United.
He also worked to try and make sure Jose Mourinho was Frank Rijkaard‘s replacement in 2008, although Pep Guardiola finally got the position.
Laporta has stayed in contact with Mendes over the years and their attentions will now turn to extending his client Ansu Fati‘s contract at the club.
Laporta and Raiola
Raiola is one of the top agents in the football world and, together with Laporta, brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the club – a deal for which Raiola has always been grateful for the commission he received.
In previous elections, Laporta tried using Raiola‘s connection with Paul Pogba to his advantage, saying that if he were to win then the Frenchman, who finally signed for Manchester United, would move to the Camp Nou.
Raiola represents one of football’s hottest prospects, Erling Haaland. Despite the Barcelona finances not being quite ready for such a potentially expensive transfer, if there ever was a chance of it happening then the friendship between Raiola and the current Barcelona president could play a big role.
