How Laporta intervened to help Barcelona beat Bayern Munich to key signing – report
· Yahoo Sports
Barcelona have made the first major coup of the new season by reaching an agreement to sign Anthony Gordon.
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The highly-rated Newcastle United winger is set to join the Blaugrana camp in a five-year contract worth around €70 million, which could reach up to €80 million if add-ons are met.
Acquiring Gordon’s services was not easy, as Barcelona had to fend off competition from Bayern Munich and Liverpool.
Joan Laporta played a key role
Laporta acted behind the scenes in Gordon deal. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images)
According to BILD (h/t SPORT), Joan Laporta played a crucial role in helping Barcelona beat the likes of Bayern Munich and Liverpool in the race to sign Gordon.
The president-elect at Barça spoke directly to Gordon, convincing him of the club’s plans and project, and how he fits into the scheme of things.
This played a crucial role in convincing Gordon. Not to mention, the Englishman also spoke to Hansi Flick, who had a key impact in the deal as well.
All of these factors favoured Barcelona as they were able to advance fast and beat Bayern Munich to the chase, even though the Bavarians had been pursuing Gordon for a longer period.
How Barça beat Bayern Munich
Gordon chose Barcelona over Bayern Munich. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The report adds that Bayern Munich thought Barcelona were ‘bluffing’ at first with their interest in Anthony Gordon.
Bayern’s own deal with the Englishman was moving slowly. The German giants had offered a deal, which was far too low and the talks, therefore, moved extremely slowly.
When Barcelona entered, neither Bayern nor Liverpool were all too bothered. But after the Catalans were able to move swiftly by holding direct talks, they soon realised the Spanish giants were not bluffing.
Before Bayern Munich could do anything about it, Barcelona were already in advanced talks with Newcastle United and an agreement was reached.