- Joan Laporta is convinced Barcelona do not need to sell any of their key players
- Laporta said Barcelona have rejected a bid of around £200 million for Lamine Yamal
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Barcelona president Joan Laporta has insisted the club do not need to sell any of their stars despite their financial problems.
The Catalan club has struggled with financial problems in recent years, but Laporta stated that Barcelona will not be forced to sell players like Frenkie de Jong, Pedri and Gavi.
Laporta also revealed that Barcelona have rejected a bid of around €200m (£172m) for 16-year-old wonderkid Lamine Yamal.
Laporta said Mundo Deportivo: ‘We don’t want to sell a big player. If everything goes according to plan, we will not be forced to sell any player.
‘Of course someone wants to leave, we won’t stop them; But I’m not worried about that at all, we want to keep the same team.’
Barcelona president Joan Laporta says the club do not need to sell any of their key stars
Laporta revealed that Barcelona have rejected a £200million bid for Lamine Yamal
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Commenting on the approach for Yamal, Laporta said: ‘We receive crazy offers for players like Lamine Yamal of around €200 million, but of course we reject them.’
‘We trust Lamine and do not have to sell’.
Laporta added that players such as Alejandro Balde, Fermin Lopez and Ronald Araujo have all attracted interest from elsewhere.
He said: ‘We have received bids for Balde, Fermin, Pedri, De Jong, Araujo, Gavi… we don’t want to sell our stars.’
Despite being only 16 years old, Yamal has made 39 appearances for Barcelona in all competitions so far this season, scoring six goals while providing seven assists.
Midfielder De Jong has often been linked with a move away from Barcelona, with Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester United and Chelsea among the clubs reportedly targeting him.
Barcelona have lacked consistency this season and sit second in LaLiga, eight points behind leaders Real Madrid.
While Laporta does not foresee any significant departures in terms of playing staff this summer, a new manager will need to be appointed following Xavi’s decision to leave the club at the end of the season.
Laporta stated that Barcelona do not need to sell their stars like Frenkie de Jong
Pedri (left) and Gavi (right) will also stay at Barcelona, according to Laporta