FC Barcelona Legend Stoichkov ‘Does Not Believe President Laporta’

FC Barcelona legend Hristo Stoichkov has revealed that he believes in president Joan Laporta about some things but not others during an interview with Relevo.

Stoichkov made his name at Camp Nou in the 1990s, when he helped the club lift its first Champions League title in 1992 and four consecutive La Liga crowns from 1991 to 1994.

In the latter year, he received the Ballon d’Or award for the best player on the planet, and had formed one of the greatest partnerships seen on-field with Brazilian World Cup winner Romario.

Now retired, he works for the TUDN
UDN
network in North America and is regularly asked to give his opinion on developments related to the Blaugrana.

In an interview with Spanish outlet Relevo published on Wednesday, Stoichkov stated: “I believe Laporta in some things and I don’t believe in others,” in relation to the club’s current leader.

“Economically we are not in good hands. Something is missing. Football-wise, yes. For everything he has done to sign players, the team is done, it is prepared to win. This year it is going to win the league easily. Another thing is the Champions League.

What worries Stoichkov most is the club’s finances. “With so much debt out there, sometimes they explain one thing, sometimes they explain something else, and it depends.

“People don’t believe him,” he said of Laporta. “There are many people who do not believe him. Athletically? Of course.”

Stoichkov was far more convinced by the Catalans’ former chief Josep Lluis Nunez, who he described as the “best president in the world, in the history of football”.

“He changed the history of Spanish football and FC Barcelona. He was a true father to my family, to my wife and my daughters. He and Maria Lluisa, his wife, gave us so much love, treated us so well… I’m excited to talk about him, I loved him very much. A lot.

“He did a lot for Barca and for football. If Nunez were the president today, Barcelona would not be in this economic position. Never. But never.

“They would not have a debt of €2 billion ($2.12 billion) now,” Stoichkov predicted, though getting his numbers wrong as the real figure is believed to be just over half that amount.