Mr Bartomeu, who has been and continues to be the target of a barrage of verbal attacks, has talked about how the ecosystem damage reached € 481 million for 2020-21 and how he considers Barcelona's dire financial situation to be one. simple complication due to Covid-19.

Speaking to the TV channel "Esport3", the former president of the Catalans referred to the debt, to the mistakes he made but also to the departure of Ernesto Valverde, which he agreed with the footballers. But let us see in detail what Mr. Bartomeu said, first of all about the Frenchman Kylian Mbappe.

"His signature was on the table, but the coaching staff chose Dembele because they wanted a player who could give the pitch a wide range. It was not a good decision for Messi to leave. I struggled a lot to get him to stay. It was a time when he wanted to leave the club and told me he did not know where he wanted to go, but I could not allow him to transfer to a Barça opponent for the Champions League.

Messi's story in Barcelona is unique and I wish he had retired here. His case has nothing to do with those of Figo, Rivaldo, Neymar. "One of my huge efforts as president of Barcelona was for Messi to continue at the club."

Referring to the huge debt, he said: "Until March 2020 we had profits of over 100 million euros, but when the pandemic broke out we lost 555 million euros. Part of the debt is the bad valuations of footballers. For us, the pandemic meant the loss of 220 million euros. The fan must understand that the administration, up to the coronavirus, was in control of things and was approved by La Liga and UEFA ".

He then referred to the mistakes made: "Do not panic after the defeat by Liverpool, where a change had to be made. We had to have a general change. I listened to the players and I was wrong. We were going to reduce the damage financially and the pandemic destroyed us ".

For Ernesto Valverde: "Valverde's departure was made with the consent of the players. We all believed that a change was needed in the way of training and in the search for improvement.". Meanwhile, Barcelona with a beautiful video presented its ambitious plan for the reconstruction of "Camp Nou" and "Palau Blaugrana" with a horizon of 2023-24.

Thus, the management of the big club of Catalonia officially presented the project "Espai Barça" which concerns the reconstruction not only of the football field, but also of the indoor basketball and other facilities next to it, such as a pool for the polo department. of the club. All this was presented during the meeting of the regular members of Barcelona.

The time horizon of the projects concerns 2023-24 and the Camp Nou "after the renovation works will have a capacity of 105,000 spectators from the current 99,000, while the roof that will come from above will cover all the spectators of the stadium. In case of rain, there should be no problem for anyone.The total cost of the reconstruction works is expected to exceed 360,000,000 euros.



Another part of "Espai Barça" is the renovation of the basketball court, "Palau Blaugrana", which will now have 15,000 seats, as well as the new stadium "Estadio Johan Cruyff", which is intended for games of the academies and the women's team. Also in the area will be new offices and a hotel between the two stadiums.