FCBARCELONA.CAT

25.08.2009 11:44

Laporta: "Chygrynskiy it’s not a whim of the coach"

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Joan Laporta has confirmed that the Club is in talks to sign a central defender and is optimistic about the chances of securing the services of Ukrainian international Dmitro Chygrynskiy from Shaktar Donetsk.

In an interview on TV3, the Barça president emphasised the player “is not a whim of the coach”. He revealed that Josep Guardiola has been stressing the need to strengthen the defence since last June.

Optimistic

However, he said the negotiations to sign Chygrynskiy have been far from straight forward. “It’s a complicated deal. He’s the favourite player of the owner of the Club, Rinat Akhmetov, and they also want Ukrainian defenders in the team. They’ve asked us for a lot of money and the director of football and his staff are negotiating. I believe we’ll reach a solution in the end”.

Super Cup “will show the way”

Barça have made a great start to the season by winning the first title of the season, the Spanish Super Cup: “Things have started well. We’re on the right track”. On Friday the squad face the challenge of winning the second, the European Super Cup. The key for Joan Laporta is to “maintain the humility and caution” of last season. For the moment he’s encouraging the players to focus on Friday’s match, which in his opinion “will show the way for the rest of the year”.

Henrique and Keirrison

Asked about why the Club signed Henrique and Keirrison, who has been loaned to Benfica, Joan Laporta was adamant: “Barça is a global team. And it would be incongruent to say we don’t promote our youth sections when the Rome final featured so many players that came up through the ranks here. However, our scouts are looking for players everywhere that could serve Barça in the future. Last season, Henrique was one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga and we have requests to loan him out, while Keirrison was wanted by half the teams in Europe”.

Praise for Txiki

In relation to these signings, Laporta praised the work of director of football Txiki Begiristain: “He’s the best sporting decision I’ve taken during my time in office. He’s made some very useful sporting proposals. He’s the epitome of honesty, judgement and common sense. When he makes a proposal it’s because he’s studied it well”.

Guardiola contract extension

As for the possible extension to Josep Guardiola’s contract, Joan Laporta explained. “That’s a question for Pep not for the Club. He’s told us that he’s very happy with his situation and I suppose he’ll come to an understanding with FC Barcelona’s next president”.

“We’d be very happy to see Ricky Rubio at Barça”

Another matter dealt with by the president in the programme was the possible signing of young basketball star Ricky Rubio for Regal FC Barcelona. Joan Laporta admitted he was excited by the prospect: “We’re trying. We have to respect Juventut and the decisions taken by their president”.