Laporta: We wanted Lautaro, happy with Fabregas success

Joan Laporta, FC Barcelona president, revealed details of the club's moves to sign Lautaro Martínez, the Inter striker, after failing to acquire Julián Alvarez from Atlético Madrid. He confirmed that negotiations had stopped in respect for Beppe Marotta, the president and CEO of the Italian club.

Joan Laporta said: "Lautaro is an amazing player, and we did not want to miss the opportunity to sign him at any cost."

He added: "I will tell you how it happened. One day I called Beppe Marotta, just him and me without intermediaries, and I told him that I would be happy to have Lautaro in my team, and that I am very impressed with the player, but he didn't even let me finish my sentence, and he clearly told me that the player is not for sale, and that he will not be the one to decide whether he leaves or not."

He continued: "Therefore, I ended all discussions, as there was no way to move forward. My relationship with Marotta is based on mutual trust, and we did not go any further out of respect for him and Inter."

Speaking about Cesc Fàbregas, the coach of Como, Laporta said: "He is one of us, and we are very happy with the success he is achieving with Como; he fully deserves it. We look forward to welcoming him back to Camp Nou. Fàbregas knows the mentality of Barcelona and the vision of the club better than anyone else. He grew up here, and this will always be his home, and we love his way of understanding football."

He explained: "But we now have a great coach like Flick, and you have already seen what he is capable of."

Joan Laporta praised FC Barcelona's performance under Thomas Tuchel's leadership, stating: "This coach has convinced us, we have returned to scare the world," before sending a clear message to the team: "No to overconfidence, and let’s fight for everything."

Speaking about his ambitions with FC Barcelona, Juan said: "Winning the UEFA Champions League is my dream. I have won many titles with FC Barcelona, and I would like to win it again. After that, I want to see our new stadium completed, as this is a very important project for us and for the future we envision."