Barcelona: One club, one president... but two CEOs?
Bartomeu's split the club in two with the appointment of Masferrer
Josep Maria Bartomeu's personal decision to officially place Jaume Masferrer in charge of the 'Area of Presidency and Board of Directors' should not have surprised anyone inside or outside the club, because Masferrer (an expert in communication strategies) has been the president's personal advisor since Sandro Rosell's resignation.
Masferrer has always accompanied Bartomeu and has been in the 'kitchen' for all of Barcelona's important decisions, such as the implantation and follow through of the 2015-21 Strategic Plan.
He has always been close to the board and the club's communications now depend on him. In fact, he already was (and is) the person who helps with all of Bartomeu's speeches.
It's an appointment given a lot of importance on Arístides Maillol. As explained from inside the club, Bartomeu would like to have made the appointment before, but there were always problems with previous vice-presidents with more character. Manuel Arroyo, was completely against it. He doesn't have a good relationship with Masferrer. Arroyo's resignation changed things.
ELECTION KEY?
One of the interpretations which has been made, inside the club, too, is that Masferrer will be the face of the 2021 elections (if they're not brought forward). That's to say, he's the continuity successor to Bartomeu... Masferrer has been present in each of the last three elections at Camp Nou, so he has experience in that sense.
Automatically, some have associated his appointment with the weakening of the club's CEO, Oscar Grau. Bartomeu's not taken this decision with that in mind, though, because his confidence in Grau remains full. When Grau arrived at the club, first to work with the FCB Escolas and later as CEO, Masferrer was already Bartomeu's right-hand man on strategic matters.
A simple and brief look at Barça's new organisational structure indicates to us more things than any comments can:
Grau, as CEO, maintains an important role in an area where Masferrer doesn't work. And some of the basic pillars of the club depends on Grau: the football side of things (working on building a competitive team that can win everything), the other professional sports, making money to keep growing the revenue (vital for the club's survival), Brand Barça, Espai Barça, commercial, social, legal... They're all important areas. And without forgetting the club's Foundation, of course.
Bartomeu wanted Masferrer's presence in the club to be official. So that's what he's done, trying to affect other people's work in the smallest way possible.
