Victor Font Refuses to Make Unrealistic Transfer Promises Ahead of Barcelona Election

Barcelona presidential candidate Victor Font is refusing to resort to wild and unrealistic transfer promises in his bid to get elected at Camp Nou next month, reiterating that the club is not in a position to pursue players like Erling Haaland or Neymar.

Promises of signing David Beckham dominated the 2003 Barcelona election, only for the then England captain to join rivals Real Madrid instead. Other candidates have promised big name arrivals this time around, notably Emili Rousaud talking up Neymar and another un-named superstar.

But Font has been the most realistic and honest about the state of Barca’s precarious finances and what that means when it comes to the transfer market.

“It’s campaign time so it's normal to hear about popular names but the supporters are smart and know for the first time in history it is not about promising an astonishing name, as happened with Beckham in 2003,” Font told Goal as the election edges nearer and nearer.

“Now we must generate interest from other angles, there's a new generation who deserve responsibility and the right conditions for decisions to be taken.”

On the subject of Neymar in particular, Font added, “I love him as a player, I enjoy him because is pure talent but we must be realistic. From now on the club will have strong leadership.

“The club is how it is in a financial aspect and he probably wants a competitive salary - we can't pay for this. Beyond these facts, we can’t forget about many other aspects. We are FCB and the club is more important than any one person.

“Neymar left us, he is constantly suing FCB, I think this choice is obvious.”

Rousaud is still focused on the Neymar move and claims to have been informed by the player’s representatives that he wants to re-join the club. However, he appears to have backtracked slightly on his early promises by admitting it would have to be a free transfer in 2022.

“He'd like to return to Barcelona, his representatives have told us. A transfer can't be done; Barcelona don't have the financial capability now. It will be when his [PSG] contract expires [in 2022],” Rousaud is quoted as saying by Marca.

Last month, Rousaud had said: “We're going to sign two top players, one of them is Neymar. We are working to bring him back to Barcelona...if he withdraws the lawsuit he has against the club.

“We hope to be able to announce soon the name of the other big-name player we want to bring. It will not leave anyone indifferent. We have a direct line to the player.”

But Font had gravely warned earlier in November, “This time for the situation, whoever comes with super-signings like Mbappe and Neymar is not making a very credible proposal.

“At the end of the summer there was a €400m debt and no liquidity. They couldn't sign Eric Garcia, who was an urgent need and someone [Koeman] asked for. He also asked for Depay, whom they could not sign, and now La Liga has set out the salary limits and Barcelona's is hugely reduced.”

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