Joan Laporta talks Barcelona transfers, Ousmane Dembele and Frenkie de Jong

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has offered a few updates on transfers during a press conference to unveil Franck Kessie.

Laporta was asked about players such as Frenkie de Jong and Ousmane Dembele as well as how the club are progressing on potential deals.

Here are the best bits:

Laporta on De Jong

He is a Barçelona player and we don’t want to sell him unless we have no choice. We know he has offers, but right now we are not selling him.

Laporta on Dembele

Dembele is no longer a Barcelona player but we have made him an offer. They have answered. At the moment they do not accept it, but they do not reject it either. We’ll keep talking, at least for now. If Dembele does not accept a renewal proposal under our terms, he can leave. We have to adapt to the salary structure.

Laporta on transfers

We need to activate the second lever to be within the 1:1 fair play rule, and be able to satisfy the coach. We have various deals done so that the the moment comes, we can execute them. At this time we still can’t sign players. We are talking to players we are interested in so they can wait for us. I am not going to say how many signings we will make, but we do commit to strengthening the squad.

Laporta on meeting Jorge Mendes

It is true that I had dinner with him. We talked about everything but I will not specify what Mendes offered me, it is always interesting to talk to him because he tells you how the market is.

Laporta on players leaving

We respect the contracts, although it is not easy. The sports management is working on it, although the players always hope they can convince the coach. I think logic will prevail in the end. If the players who don’t count see signings arriving, they’ll try to get minutes elsewhere.