How Barcelona signed Rafa Márquez at a bargain price

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Joan Laporta, candidate for the presidency of Barcelona, ​​recalled the absurd price they paid for Rafael Márquez

Former Barcelona president Joan Laporta revealed how the former Mexican footballer Rafael Márquez was hired, Which was not one of the club’s goals but its price made it a very attractive option.

In statements made on the channel YouTube ‘Iniestazo’, Laporta, who is currently seeking his second term at the helm of Barcelona, ​​has indicated that when he took over the reins of the Catalan team in 2003 they were considering signing Roberto Ayala but a proposal by Jorge Mendes changed it all.

“The agent was Jorge Mendes and we had just won the election and a few of us were having lunch. We were planning the season and they were trying to sell us to the triple A, Ayala, Albelda and Aimar and Ayala was 30, an experience and an important trajectory so it cost some money, ”the manager explained.

“And this agent (Jordi) comes and congratulates me president, I have a very good center for Barça, Rafa Márquez and I replied that I know him, he is very good. Jorge tells us’ If I take him for five million (euros) in Barça, do they sign me? ‘ I thought it was very difficult for him to take it for five million but I shook his hand and if he takes it for five million we have to sign it because the president of Barcelona has only one word and his word is law, “he said. expressed.

After this first meeting, Jorge Mendes returned to Barcelona with the ‘Kaiser’ and a letter from Monaco willing to sell to Márquez for five million euros. Four years earlier, the Ligue 1 team had paid the Atlas 4.5mde so Laporta accepted the proposal immediately.

“Two weeks go by and the receptionist tells me she’s carrying a guy and she says she has a meeting with you, however, I hadn’t stayed with anyone but she told me it was someone coming from Monaco and then I started dating the (Jordi) comes in and says to me: ‘President, here I have the letter from Monaco that they are selling to Rafa Márquez for five million euros’ and the negotiations with the others stopped and we signed Márquez “, he said. pointed out.

Rafael Márquez spent seven years at Barcelona and became one of the most important players on the Catalan team during this period. The Mexican has won four Laliga titles, two Champions League, Club World Cup, among other titles.

Through his official Twitter account, Márquez joked about the little money Barcelona paid for his services.

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