All eyes on Laporta

Beckham still the big prize for new Barcelona president

Joan Laporta, left, is congratulated by rival Lluis Bassat AP

BARCELONA (Reuters) -- Newly elected Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confounded his critics by clearing two hurdles in his bid to bring England captain David Beckham to the Nou Camp.

After first securing a deal for Beckham with Manchester United and then winning the Barcelona election, Laporta now needs to convince the hugely popular midfielder that a move to the troubled Catalan club would be in his best interests.

That looks like being by far the trickiest of the three tasks but a landslide victory in Sunday's election has left the Laporta camp confident they can get their man.

"We've now been in contact with Beckham's people and I'm convinced he'll come," said Sandro Rosell, the man who conducted the negotiations with Manchester United.

According to reports in Spain, England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson spoke to Beckham last week and advised him to choose Barcelona.

"Those comments from Eriksson will help us a great deal," Rosell said.

Laporta was planning to speak to Beckham's people on Monday, the day after he secured the Barcelona presidency with 52.57 percent of the vote, compared to 31.8 percent for his nearest challenger Lluis Bassat.

The England skipper arrived back in England on Saturday after a holiday in the United States but made no comment about United's decision to accept the Laporta bid conditionally.

No intention

Worryingly for Laporta, Beckham's agents at SFX did issue a statement after United's announcement last week saying the player had no intention of meeting the then candidate.

Now that Laporta has won the election, though, he believes the attitude of the Beckham camp will change.

"We'll be speaking as Barcelona president and club directors now rather than as candidates," Laporta said. "That will make a difference.

"I'll give it everything to bring Beckham here but if it's not possible someone else of the same standing will come."

Laporta will be waiting nervously to see if, as expected, Real Madrid choose to make a counter-offer for Beckham when the league season is over next weekend.

Real has arguably the most attractive side in the world, already featuring such talents as Ronaldo, Raul, Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane, and will be one of the favorites for the Champions League next season.

Barcelona, by contrast, is struggling even to grab a place in the UEFA Cup and may be forced to play the Intertoto Cup over the close season in a bid to sneak into Europe's secondary club competition by the back door.

Barcelona is also at least 100 million euros in debt, making it doubtful whether it can build a team capable of challenging for honors again, but for the moment, at least, Laporta is sounding confident about the task ahead.

"We will bring Barcelona back to the front rank of clubs," Laporta said. "This is a new era for Barcelona and we all have to look to the future."

 

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