The arrival of José Mourinho at Real Madrid generates a change in the paradigm of the wide range of signings managed and controlled by super-agent Jorge Mendes. The Portuguese representative and problem-solver has operated quite a bit in recent years with Barça, as he maintains a good understanding with president Joan Laporta. This is how, for example, operations such as the landing of footballers like João Félix three seasons ago at the blaugrana discipline can be read. Although it was not a request from Xavi Hernández, who was then still the blaugrana coach, Mendes brought him to Barça with Laporta's approval because the super-agent, in the same way that he unblocks operations for club directors – he has been in charge of solving hot potatoes like Ansu Fati's – also uses his influence to satisfy the wishes of his players.

Important movements in the offices of Barça. Joan Laporta will begin his term with a new financial director. According to reports from El Confidencial and confirmed by ARA, Sergio Serrano has been performing these duties since June 1st. With a background in management and finance from Esade, he has over 25 years of experience in the capital markets sector. He comes from Banc Sabadell, where he held various positions since joining in 2002. He started with portfolio management and soon moved to more strategic areas, such as corporate operations management and internal reorganization processes, and during the most critical years of the financial crisis. In this context, he played a crucial role in the restructuring of CAM (Caja de Ahorros del Mediterráneo), which in 2011 was acquired by Sabadell after an awarding process.

The interview that Xavi Hernández gave to La Vanguardia during the last electoral campaign bothered Joan Laporta, who was running for re-election, and Alejandro Echevarría, his right-hand man without a position at Barça. The former blaugrana coach had remained silent since his turbulent departure from the club, after having been ratified in his position in a press conference where Laporta even shed tears the day after the sushi night to end up firing him. Xavi ended up parting ways with the president-elect and with Echevarría, who, although in 2021 he was the main supporter of his return, the coach also considers him one of the architects of his dismissal. Basically, he felt betrayed by him.

After the express signing of Anthony Gordon in the early days of the summer transfer window, Barça made an initial offensive for Julián Álvarez. But while Newcastle gladly accepted the 70 million fixed plus 10 in variables offered by the Blaugranas, the mattress makers considered the initial offer of 100 million for the Argentine striker to be insufficient. The entry of Real Madrid into the scene and the public offer of 150 million for Julián are part of the football theatre, halfway between a gesture for show by the newly re-elected president Florentino Pérez and the meringue intention of increasing the transfer fee so that if the Spider ends up in Barcelona, it is at the highest possible price.are part of the football theatre, halfway between a gesture for show by the newly re-elected president Florentino Pérez and the meringue intention of increasing the transfer fee so that if the Spider ends up in Barcelona, it is at the highest possible price.

Barça is preparing for the first transfer market without restrictions imposed since before the covid pandemic. Joan Laporta has had to win two elections for the presidency of the Blaugrana to be able to go shopping with a normalized salary cap. Incorporating talent for the same value as is freed up – a quick definition of what is known as the 1:1 rule – will allow the president, for example, to fill part of the important space left by Robert Lewandowski with an expensive signing like Anthony Gordon's. He has reasons, therefore, to be happy after so many years of complications.

Barça has needed six years to face a summer transfer window without restrictions again. Not even 2022 is comparable, since then the club, despite strengthening itself with Kounde, Raphinha and Lewandowski, sweated profusely for the levers to adapt to La Liga's regulations. This time the tap is flowing and once Anthony Gordon's signing has been confirmed, the entity still presided over on an interim basis by Rafael Yuste is pulling strings to sign a world-class center forward and, if possible, to strengthen the defense with a reliable center-back.

Barça obtained in March the permission to use all of the first and second stands without them being completely finished. A walk through the bowels of the venue is enough to see that some finishes are provisional and that there are elements, such as the catering offer, that have been set up with mobile shelving while waiting to assemble the definitive structure. It's nothing serious. It's one thing for the Camp Nou to be operational and another for all the pending work to have been done. It happens at the Santiago Bernabéu, which can fill all its seats and there are still workers inside. And the same happens in many buildings, where tenants can live there even if there's still a curtain to hang, a piece of furniture to assemble, or a room to paint.

Barça has convincingly won the League thanks to a competitive spirit developed in relation to last season. The Blaugranes have achieved the objective with three games to spare against a Real Madrid in tatters. Nevertheless, Hansi Flick, recently renewed until 2028, has not been satisfied with the team's performance in certain stages of the season due to muscular injuries. Key players in the squad such as Lamine Yamal, Pedri, or Raphinha suffered around decisive matches, and this – according to the German coach's feelings – has deprived the Culer team, for example, of progressing further in the Cup and the Champions League, two objectives lost to the same rival, Atlètic de Madrid.

Anthony Gordon is the first signing for Barça for the third season with Hansi Flick. The 25-year-old English international footballer has reached an agreement with the Catalan club. This week, the Barça sporting director, Deco, has been in England negotiating with Newcastle United. The agreement between the three parties is now a fact and the footballer will sign his contract with Barça this Friday at 13:00 in the office of interim president Rafael Yuste. Afterwards, he will be presented at a press conference.

The adaptation of Joan Garcia went faster than they imagined, they confess to ARA from the heart of the Barça dressing room. There was a conviction within Hansi Flick's technical staff and the sporting management led by Deco that he would be a signing "for immediate performance", but the parameters recorded in the first training sessions confirmed the success. The German coach was quick to state in a press conference that Joan had come to be "number one" in goal, and thus ended any rumors about a dispute for the position with a Ter Stegen who would end up experiencing a ordeal with injuries.

Today we will have new revelations about the judicial investigation into the lobbying activity of former Spanish president Zapatero, because the judge will deliver to the parties everything that is in the initiated summary. And, of course, with new revelations the pressure on Sánchez's government to step down will increase. On this front there is a significant novelty: the PNB, through its president, Aitor Esteban, said yesterday that it would be “irresponsible” for Sanchez to want to exhaust the legislature in 2027, that is to say, that in view of everything that has emerged (the Zapatero case, but also the Cerdán and Ábalos cases) it would be imprudent to want to go beyond this year.What Esteban is telling Sánchez is that he should not abuse his patience and the deadlock in which the parties that voted for the socialist president's investiture find themselves: it is unlikely that the PNB, Junts, and not to mention the so-called "plurinational lefts" will vote for Feijóo as president of the government with Vox in a motion of censure, but if corruption continues to tarnish Sánchez, it is the Spanish president who should be obliged to call early elections. After all, Sánchez came to power with a motion of censure after corruption drowned Rajoy and the PP government.As always happens in these cases, now there are voices demanding that the law better define the limits between lobbying and falling into the crime of influence peddling. And the convenience of rescuing the airline Plus Ultra during the pandemic is also reviewed in hindsight, because it was not essential for air traffic between Spain and Latin America. If it wasn't, why did they rescue it? The PSOE is crossing its fingers so that the judge hasn't found anything else and can recover the discourse of "lawfare" (a possibility that, given what we have seen in the Spanish justice system, would not be so dismissible), but everyone you talk to tells you that, at the very least, Zapatero acted very much on the edge.While the socialists are crossing their fingers that nothing else comes up, in our country, tomorrow there will be another meeting between the Government and the education unions. The teachers' strikes are more than a stone in the government's shoe, they are a boulder in the road that doesn't let it continue to move with confidence and optimism after having been able to present a budget that will be approved. We are at the end of the sports seasons, and Catalonia has lost a team in the First Football Division, Girona. After having reached the Champions League, it drops to the Second Division: the team could not withstand the departure of key players who had made a name for themselves. Not all news is bad. Two Catalans succeeding in the world: the Barça women's football team, which tonight was received in Barcelona by 10,000 people after having won the Champions League, the fourth in the Club's history, in a perfect season that includes all three Spanish titles. And wait, because Alexia Putellas, after Saturday's Champions League, could very well win the Ballon d'Or again. For the visibility of professional women's sport, the service Barça is providing is extraordinary. And Pep Guardiola, who yesterday was bid farewell at City's stadium after 10 years as its manager. The mark Guardiola has left on football can only be defined by "a before and an after"; this can be said of very few managers in history. By the way, both celebrations, that of the Barça players and that of the Santpedor coach, were united by the estelada:

Barça has been reported to the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office due to the "sponsorship signed in mid-2025 with the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo. In the document registered on May 5, which ARA has accessed, it is specified that the complaint is directed against the club, against "the [Barça] directors responsible for the litigious contract" and against the Central African country's Minister of Sports, Didier Budimbu Ntubuanga. It is requested that they be investigated for alleged crimes of money laundering, prevarication, and embezzlement of public funds. The procedure arises from an initiative by Congolese citizens residing in Spain and is coordinated with another action that was launched regarding the sponsorship that the Congo itself signed with Monaco. This complaint has been investigated by the Principality's justice system since March 6, after the French system declared itself incompetent in the first instance.

Despite Joan Laporta's electoral theatrics, everyone at Barça knew Robert Lewandowski's days were numbered. He never received a formal offer with concrete figures for renewal: since he was neither sportingly nor economically of interest, the club had been planning the future without him for months. A logical decision by Deco: it's time to rebuild the attack. Although the nuances of the story don't deceive, the Pole's farewell has been hygienic, a story of an unblemished record, and fitting for the star who decides when he wants to leave. It's healthy that there were no recriminations, only tears of emotion and gratitude. The 2022 bet has yielded four good seasons: especially the first with Xavi and the first with Hansi Flick. There was no need to drag it out or agonize. All parties have handled it well. All parties have handled it well.

The FC Barcelona first team squad, the coaching staff, and the board celebrated the end-of-season dinner this Wednesday at the Restaurant Casanova Beach Club in Castelldefels, with about 150 guests. The gathering, initially planned as a celebration for the League and Super Cup titles, also ended up becoming a tribute to Robert Lewandowski, who announced his departure from the club on Saturday. In fact, he already said goodbye to the fans in the last match at Camp Nou against Betis. The Polish forward received recognition from his teammates and the coaching staff in an internal event, even though there is still one match left to play.

The real estate bubble had catastrophic consequences for Spanish football. Many clubs depended on construction companies or businesses linked to the property sector that went bankrupt, leading to global non-payments to players and social security. In 2012, the Spanish government said enough was enough and threatened to intervene in the football business. To protect themselves, the clubs decided to create a mandatory regulation that not only required accounts to balance, but also demanded that entities demonstrate at the start of the season that they would have sufficiently good budgets to pay all debts for the season. At that moment, financial fair play was born.

In a very short time, two decades will have passed since Joan Laporta chose Pep Guardiola as first-team coach. Besides sporting a few more gray hairs, can you imagine how the path of our Barça would have been if José Mourinho had taken the reins of the bench? Laporta, with all his strengths and weaknesses, chose with his heart. And he was absolutely right. No one can doubt his intuition: Hansi Flick is the contemporary example. Guardiola arrived at the bench after winning the Third Division league with Barça Atlètic. A title that he has always made sure to highlight in an extensive and successful record that, if it doesn't make him the best coach in history (for the one writing these lines, he is), it's close.

The Barça-Betis match on Sunday was supposed to be a fantastic farewell party at Camp Nou. The team, already champions, were playing their last game at the stadium, where they were set to achieve their 19th victory, thus completing a perfect home season, a feat never before accomplished in the league tournament. Beyond the three points, which would eventually come with a 3-1 win, several players were receiving awards accrediting them as members of the competition's ideal eleven. And the main event was Robert Lewandowski's farewell, who was saying goodbye with full honors after four years wearing the blaugrana. Nothing suggested that anything could go wrong, until yesterday morning Fermín López went through the blaugrana medical center.

When Robert Lewandowski announced on Saturday that he would leave Barça, he explained that he had found his corner of the world in Catalonia. Not everyone finds it. He has found it near the sea and Barcelona. And thousands of Barça fans returned this appreciation by bidding him farewell as they should have in a Spotify Camp Nou that was moved when, five minutes from the end, he left the pitch crying. His teammates rallied around him, hugging him, in a memorable image. Only his goal against Betis in the last match of the season was missing in a stadium where only victories have been seen (3-1).

Barça closes a perfect home season with a new victory. The azulgranas beat Betis on the day that Robert Lewandowski said goodbye to the azulgrana fans after four seasons. Here are some immediate thoughts.

"Success is never accidental." This is one of the mottos of Barça's medical services, which have made creatine the invisible fuel for a club always attentive to the latest medical innovations. The blaugrana entity uses this supplement in both its youth and professional teams.