"Hazard is evidence that Madrid don't put faith in home-grown players" - ex-Barça president
The former president of FC Barcelona has taken a swipe at Real Madrid's transfer policies following the signing of Eden Hazard from Chelsea.
The former president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, has taken the opportunity to aim a few sly digs at Real Madrid and the club’s policies on transfers and the use of home-grown players.
Following the announcement that Madrid had finally secured the signing of Chelsea star Eden Hazard for 100 million euros, Laporta was speaking at a commemoration even for Johann Cryuff in the Catalunyan city of Sitges, where he was asked about the Los Blancos’ latest acquisition.
And while he acknowledged that Hazard was a great footballer who would have a positive impact on LaLiga, he also criticised Madrid for its transfer policies and “not putting faith” in its youth academy.
“He's a great footballer and he's going to make LaLiga even more competitive without a doubt; Real Madrid was forced to go to the market to look for signings,” said Laporta.
Laporta: not a fan of the Galáctico model
Madrid president Florentino Perez’ will be best remembered for the Galáctico signings he has secured during his two tenures at the club, players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, Luis Figo, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham -- with Hazard becoming Perez’s first Galéctico signing since James Rodriguez in 2014.
However, Laporta explained he was not in favour of the Galacticos model, stating that he didn’t like to “pull out the wallet” while neglecting the youth academy.
“At least it is not the model that I represent. At Barcelona we have had another philosophy for a long time, which is to look for players from the youth academy.
“Besides, this way of going to the market to look for players does not guarantee anything either because this season we won LaLiga and Real Madrid were left with nothing.”
"It is evidence that they don’t put their faith in home-grown players,” he added.