Barcelona president Joan Laporta, on his first trip since suffering a cardiac arrhythmia, said nothing before lunch with Elche's board of directors, where Julian Alvarez and Alejandro Balde were the centre of attention.
Laporta is in Elche leading the Barcelona delegation, which kicks off its 2026-2027 La Liga campaign tonight at Elche's stadium.
According to "Mundo Deportivo", the president is the most prominent Barca figure at the board's lunch. Yet he refused to comment on arrival at the restaurant, even with the transfer market dominating every conversation.
Joining Laporta were vice-president for sport Rafa Yuste and the two new board members, Jaume Santiveri and Xavier Barniol, who backed him during the electoral campaign in March and took up their posts on 1 July. Elche were represented by president Christian Bragarnik and general director Pedro Lucio Chinocca.
This was Laporta's first trip since suffering a cardiac arrhythmia on his return from the United States, where he watched the final stages of the World Cup. He declined to say a word to the media, despite the presence of so many figures with an interest in the transfer market, whether from within the team or outside it. Take Julian Alvarez, a key Barcelona target since the end of last season to replace Robert Lewandowski as the out-and-out striker.
Within the current squad, one name dominates today: Alejandro Balde. Hansi Flick left the Catalan left-back out of the squad for the Elche match, which increased the likelihood of his departure after he had hinted at this in yesterday's press conference, where he did not clarify his fate or that of Jules Koundé.
Koundé, though, is already among Barcelona's squad for the league opener, as the team seeks its first three points on the road to a third consecutive title.
Only two men have managed that feat with the club. Johan Cruyff won four in a row between 1991 and 1994, and Pep Guardiola claimed three between 2009 and 2011.