Mute and in the cage!

BarcelonaUntil recently, whenever Barça signed a player, a presentation event was held where, in addition to signing the contract and taking photos with the president, he would discuss his aspirations. There was even a period when journalistic questions could be asked of the key players: not only the player, but also those responsible for transfer policy. This is why former director of professional sports Albert Soler was questioned about Coutinho's exorbitant price in 2018, or, in the summer of 2023, during a tour of the United States, former director of football Mateu Alemany gave details of what Barça had paid Girona to sign Oriol Rome. Low cost. This, Oriol Romeu's in Los Angeles (!), is the latest press conference presentation Barça has held for a signing – Hansi Flick aside.

Since then, we've gone from seeing the players on the pitch at the Ciudad Deportiva with four remote-controlled phrases to ending up directly entering a news blackout. Dani Olmo, last summer's star signing, was presented at a "private event" and The same thing will happen with Joan GarciaWe media workers will huddle like chickens behind the railings outside the Camp Nou offices, watching Laporta, Deco, and the doorman come and go behind a wall. The message is a pre-chewed message. We should also look at it as a profession: we lose four sheets with each load of laundry, and after swallowing it all, soon all we'll have left is a clothespin.

This, dear readers, is not an inbred tantrum; it's the defense of a fundamental right. The losers are all of you: the Barça members and fans who eagerly read us, and also those who can't stand us. Every time a center of power actively restricts the exercise of journalism, opportunities to scrutinize the management of its leaders are lost. There will be no questions about decision-making, no answers about what they do right or wrong. The narrative will become increasingly uniform and less free. They can't disguise it as protecting Joan Garcia from uncomfortable questions about his transition from parakeet to culé, because the trend shows otherwise. There's still time to correct it: perhaps by the time Nico Williams arrives, they'll have rediscovered that Barça deserves serious transparency.