Laporta responds to Araujo exit and Raphinha comments – ‘The media tricked him’

Barcelona President Joan Laporta has accused the media of tricking captain Raphinha into making his comments about the club, by painting a picture that was not true. The Brazilian noted publicly last week that due to the club’s finances, he too would have doubts about coming to the club.

Last week Raphinha admitted that with Barcelona then unable to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, if he were to consider joining the club at the time, he would have doubts about signing for them.

“The captain’s criticisms are not true. You led Raphinha astray, you tricked him. He said that Barca was the best club I could be at. It’s another thing if they tell you things from outside with a false conclusion, which predicts the apocalypse. The club seemed to be in a position that was not true. Victory on the field and in the offices has not served to make us lose.”

“Raphinha was dejected. He wanted to praise the greatness of Barça and you only got part of it. The resignation of a director, Juli Guiu, has nothing to do with it. He stops being a director due to circumstances.”

Later he would again refer to Raphinha’s words, claiming that he didn’t mean what he said.

“The criticism from Raphinha is not true. He never said what was reported. You only used some of his words, and you know that those were not the spirit of what he was saying.”

There is also plenty of speculation about the future of another of Barcelona’s captains, Ronald Araujo. Juventus and Arsenal are reportedly keen on signing the Uruguayan, and he is due to meet with Deco this week to discuss his future.

“You have to speak to the director of football [Deco] about Araujo, he knows the situation of each of the players.”

“We want the players in the current squad to be very useful and to continue. Ronald has a valid contract and we want him to continue. For details that I am unaware of, he has to speak to the sporting management and we will find a solution. We appreciate him very much, especially on a personal level. The direct relationship is very good. There is room to reach a satisfactory solution.”

Araujo has a contract until 2026, and the line from Barcelona has been that they do not want any players to start next season out of contract by that date. However with little progress on a new contract, Araujo has understandably started to evaluate his options.