Benedito: "They paid too much for Ibrahimovic"

Barcelona presidential candidate Agustí Benedito gave an interview to Spanish football site Mercafutbol.

translation: jakob zsambok

Let's go back to the subject of David Villa If you win the elections and he is already signed, what will you do with Zlatan Ibrahimovic?
This will be another problem that will have to be handled by the sports department.

Do you think the criticism he recently received is justified?
I again can only give you my opinion as a fan. I think they paid too much for him, the price of the transfer didn't reflect his market value. Nevertheless I think he can offer a lot more than he has shown so far.

The players who are not subject to criticism are the homegrown players. What plans do you have for the youth academy.
We are talking here about the uniqueness of our club, it's something we have to sustain and to improve. That's why when the time comes we will talk about the sporting structure of the club, but only about some of the issues. About the others, we will first talk to Pep Guardiola.

Will you continue to work with José Ramón Alexanco?
No neither with him, nor with Txiki Begiristain as sports director.

Let's focus on your philosophy. What will be your arguments to convince the members to vote for you?
The assets policy for example. We have a way to look at those things, which is different to the other candidates.We also have different ideas about the relationship with the members. We want Barça to be more involved in the society. We are talking about the stance the institution can take in the fight against inequality in our society. We will be different in the issues of globalization and internationalization. We want to change the way our fans relate to the club. Also about the issues of assets policy, we want to construct a new Palau and rebuild the stadium. All of those things will be handled with the level of excellence a club like ours deserves, with total transparency and our feet on the ground, with common sense and doing things the "catalan" way.

Do you think Sandro Rosell is the favourite to win the elections?
It depends on the area in Barcelona you go to and which newspapers you read. In some of them it seems like Rosell doesn't have a rival. However this perception is contrasted by my experience when talking with the members. My perception in contrast to the estimations is that 80% of the voters are still undecided. I think this election will be a very open one.

Do you think that the "war" between Rosell and the continuity candidacy will benefit you?
The only thing I can tell you is that I would like to have clean elections in which we can talk about our plans with education. I'm only interested in communicating my plans to the members with the same chances as the others. We don't know what the others will do but we certainly won't enter this game because that wouldn't go in hand with the Barça we want.

Do you agree with the appointment of Johan Cruyff as honorary president of Barcelona?
I think if the club makes the decision to have an honorary president for the first time in its 110 years of history, it should be a consensus decision. Therefore we should have had the opportunity to decide, first if we even want an honorary president, and if we want to have one, it should be a person who represents everyone. In any case to erase any doubts we will consult the members about the decision to appoint Cruyff, if the majority is ok with it, I will be too.

Will you continue with Txiki Begiristain and Tito Vilanova?
As I already said before, I won’t continue with Tixi, because I think a new presidency should have a new technical director since it's a post of confidence. About Tito we would have to talk with Pep, but I'm certain that he will want to continue working with him, and therefore he will stay.

this was the third and last part of this interview. you can read the first part here and the second part here.

Read more:
Benedito: "Our secret weapon are the people"
[pictures] Presidential candidates in Paris
Benedito says others have political and media links

interview: elena fernández