Joan Laporta

When Joan Laporta was elected Barcelona president in March, one of the first things he did was make it abundantly clear that Ronald Koeman did not figure in his long-term plans. Six months later, he suggested he was on the verge of extending the Dutch manager's contract for a further year. But six months and two weeks later, it now looks as if the only thing keeping Koeman in the job is the fact he would be due a huge pay-off. And that

REUTERS BARCELONA, Sept 7 - Barca president Joan Laporta has insisted that the Super League project is still alive, despite the withdrawal earlier this year of the majority of founding clubs. The Catalans, along with Real Madrid and Juventus are the only three clubs remaining in the seemingly doomed breakaway competition, which was announced in April with 12 founding clubs. The other nine have all withdrawn and signed agreements with UEFA prohibiting them from repeating their actions, but Laporta said Barca were still