Barcelona presidential hopeful Joan Laporta will take inspiration from Liverpool if he is elected by using the slogan “You’ll Never Walk Alone” for the Catalan club’s La Masia academy.
Laporta, 58, was Barca president between 2003 and 2010 and confirmed on Monday he will stand for election again in the New Year, having finished second to Josep Maria Bartomeu in 2015. Barca members will vote on a new president on Jan. 24.
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As part of his manifesto on his website, Laporta wrote that La Masia will form the backbone of his campaign and will undergo a rebrand if he wins January’s election.
“La Masia will be a personalised accompaniment to the player, under the slogan of ‘You Will Never Walk Alone,'” he said.
“We want it to become a Centre for High Performance and Sport Excellence, but also for personal development, where the treatment of athletes is not generic but one-on-one.
“We will do this with special care for the values that make up strong personalities and that we can be proud of: we want athletes who love Barca.”
During his first stint as president at Camp Nou, Laporta oversaw the appointment of Pep Guardiola as coach in 2008 and helped build the team that won an unrepeated six trophies in one calendar year in 2009.
That team’s success was built with players that had come through La Masia, including Victor Valdes, Carles Puyol, Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi.
Speaking in a news conference on Monday, Laporta emphasised that Barca must begin to show more faith in their academy again, rather than turning to big-name signings in an attempt to fix their problems.
“Before signing players, I think we should always look in-house,” he said. “We can’t let any more top-level players leave the club.”
The song “You’ll Never Walk Alone” is originally from the 1945 musical Carousel and was later re-produced by Liverpool-based band Gerry and the Pacemakers in 1963.
It subsequently went on to become Liverpool’s motto — appearing on the club’s crest — and anthem. It is sung before and after all games at Anfield. It has also been adopted by several other teams around the world, including Celtic and Borussia Dortmund.
The song formed the backdrop to the celebrations at Anfield in 2019 when Liverpool produced a historic comeback against Barca in the Champions League. Jurgen Klopp’s side overturned a 3-0 first-leg defeat, winning 4-0 to reach the final, where they beat Tottenham.