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"I reckon that in a couple of years the club will be healthy,"
he told reporters, adding that the team have many potential
sponsorship deals open to them.
With their finances in dire straits after years of wage
inflation and expensive transfers, the club could not afford to
renew its contract with star striker Lionel Messi, leading to
his shock departure to Paris St Germain last week. [nL1N2PH0LE]
Still, Laporta said he was optimistic for the future, stressing
that the club had many options open to it, including some 17
investors interested in Barca Studios, which groups together the
club's audiovisual businesses and serves as a hub for events.
"We have a lot of proposals and this is obviously encouraging,
our morale is very high," he said.
Barca's previous management had contracted investment bank
Goldman Sachs to seek potential investors for the club's
commercial arm but none of the proposals were satisfactory,
Laporta said.
The club's debts total 1.35 billion euros, 673 million of which
are owed to banks, Laporta said.
Last week Reuters reported that Goldman had agreed to lend 1
billion euros to private equity firm CVC's planned multibillion
euro investment in Spain's top soccer league, LaLiga, a deal
which Barcelona opted out.
Along with rivals Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, Barca voted
against the proposal at a general assembly last Thursday.
Laporta had previously slammed the deal as "mortgaging the
club's television rights for the next 50 years", even though the
cash injection could have allowed Messi to stay at the Camp Nou.
($1 = 0.8495 euros)
(Reporting by Inti Landauro, Corina Pons; Editing by Nathan
Allen and Christian Radnedge)
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