Joan Laporta, the king of Mambo

President Joan Laporta defines himself in the interview he gave to Sport as a responsible, perfectionist and courageous person. He says that his anxiety causes him problems with his diet, but that he has started to take care of himself, that he goes to the gym, that he does not eat dinner and that he drinks his coffee without sugar. He usually goes to bed around half past one and gets up before seven, although he admits that the years are beginning to weigh on him. He turned 61 at the end of June.

Nowadays, he relaxes by watching westerns. "The last ones I've seen are Rio Bravo and Stagecoach," he says. On his bedside table he has the latest book by his friend, Xavier Sala Martin, and the American writer, John Grisham, 'The Adversaries', which tells exciting stories about the world of the law.

He also recognises, and explains without qualms, that he has not yet found a person who has as much knowledge of everything that goes on in the club. And as his own assets and those of his fellow board members are at stake, he assures that he will not relinquish any of his responsibilities until everything is in place.

In other words, he will continue to act as president, CEO, director general and whatever else is necessary. Laporta is like that. He talks about the club making decisions when it is appropriate to deal with Xavi's renewal, but the club is him. All decisions go through that small office with a big table and old pictures still from the time of president Núñez. In the campaign he never hid the fact that his style would be presidential and he demonstrates it on a daily basis.

He dedicates 24 hours a day to Barça, has no salary and reaffirms that as long as he is president, the club will not be a public limited company. In short, winning La Liga has given him wings and he is unstoppable. He laughs, has a good time and, for the moment, no one is overshadowing him. As long as the team wins, he will continue to be the king of mambo.