Laporta on Haaland: If we have to pay commission we won't hide it

Barcelona president Joan Laporta was asked by the journalist Marçal Lorente if he would pay more than 5% in commission to land signings like Erling Haaland in the future.

Lorente's question came as Laporta presented the results from a forensic investigation into the club's finances in which he said the previous board had paid inflated commission under Josep Maria Bartomeu, as high as 30% at times.

"What we will not do is make unjustifiable payments," Laporta responded. "We won't make disproportionate payments. You're talking about a deal [for Haaland] and there are exaggerated reports of the commission.

"In the past, there have been times where if you want a player, you have to pay a certain amount of commission. But if we do that, we won't dress it up. We will explain it with complete transparency. What we won't do is say that a transfer cost €17m [for Neymar] and later it turns out that €40m went to the father and the total deal was closer to €100m."