Exclusive: Barça vice president on Xavi, registering signings & contract renewals

Diario SPORT have had the opportunity to speak in Los Angeles with Rafa Yuste, the vice-president of FC Barcelona. He talks about signings, renewals and departures.

Although there is still a long way to go to in the transfer market, what is your assessment of the squad at the moment?

The market never closes at a club like Barça. At the moment, we have an even stronger squad than we could have hoped for thanks to the work that has been done by the sporting department, backed by the board and the president. We have three great new players who are going to give that extra plus of excellence to the team, I am convinced. 

President Joan Laporta recently said that a right-back and a midfielder were still missing. Are you going to try to give Xavi what he wants?

Maybe these players are missing. Since Xavi arrived we have tried to give him everything that he and his coaching staff have wanted, little by little we have been completing this team profile that Xavi has asked for so much. It has cost a lot, you know that Barça came from a point of, I would say, near death two and a half years ago. Barça were at death's door. We have been able to right this course that had the ship totally sunk. 

How is the exit operation going?

We are working on it because it is necessary for players to leave, especially those who do not count for the coach.

Is it because of inherited contracts that some players find it so difficult to leave?

There have been contracts that for me have been really irresponsible. We have put a stop to contracts that will never happen again at the club, never again. And it is not the player's fault that executives, presidents etc made them. Our first priority is that the club belongs to the members and for that reason we have to look after the club's economy. You can see it with the contracts we are making.

How are the player registrations going?

We are working on it. We presented a viability plan to the league, we are working on it and I think that soon we will be able to announce that there will be no problem for the maximum number of players to be registered. There will be good news very soon.

Is there anything else missing, sales, new revenue?

A little bit of everything is missing, but I think that soon we will be able to announce that we have once again taken another turn of the screw so that this viability plan, this economic plan, this sporting plan will have a guaranteed future.

Is a big sale needed?

We don't need a big sale, but we need to have this balanced plan that the league has set for us, to have 'Fair Play.' We are fighting to achieve this. We have reduced the wage bill by almost 200 million euros, working very hard, talking to the players, to their camps, trying to explain to them the harsh reality of what is happening at the club. I repeat that we came to a club that was mortally wounded, that had no pulse. Thanks to the president and the board of directors, we have managed, with the levers, to have much more financial muscle to get back to having a squad like the one we have today.

Balde has said that his renewal is very close, how are the renewals of Balde and Lamine Yamal?

We are talking to both of them and we hope to give you good news about both of them soon.

And what about Dembélé?

It seems like a never-ending story. It's been the same every year. Xavi likes Dembélé a lot and it's a process that is slower than others. I hope we end up with a good understanding on both sides.

Xavi's renewal is also pending, but the president has said that he has the utmost confidence in him. Are you confident that in a short space of time an agreement can also be reached with the coach?

Absolutely. What Xavi has asked us to do is to finish the registration of the first team players first. Xavi, who is a club man, knows what is most important. He is very grateful for the effort that the president and the board are making. He knows perfectly well the economic difficulties we are facing and he has said that we will talk about it calmly and I'm sure we will understand each other. But the first thing now is to focus on the players.