36 hours after eliminating Naples and reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time in this term, Joan Laporta appeared at the Auditori 1899 to weather a new institutional crisis at FC Barcelona. The board of directors loses the person who has been its economic vice president since March 2021, three years in which the economy has conditioned many plans. “He has been a key person in Barça’s economic recovery. It is fair to say it,” Laporta explained about Eduard Romeu’s resignation. “From June to September he only left the club to shower,” said the former manager about his commitment.
In principle, the president did not announce the replacement to manage the club’s delicate finances pending the next board meeting. “Fortunately at the club we work as a team. Romeu’s tasks may be assumed by department executives and managers who are assigned to the area,” he revealed.
The resignation of the economic vice-president, Eduard Romeu, was announced at 10 in the morning, an hour after the appearance of the Barcelona president was called. He is the second manager to leave after Jordi Llauradó, in June 2023, who had been responsible for Espai Barça. In Laporta’s first stage in the box, 15 managers left.
The club’s statement cited professional reasons for his departure. “Sometimes things are simpler than they may seem,” Romeu himself confessed.
“I have started a new business project, with other partners, and this vice presidency that I assume in the project forces me to an absolute obligation and does not allow me a dedication like that demanded by Barcelona,” he reflected.
Romeu explained that the decision has a lot to do with qualifying for the Champions League quarterfinals. “The last obstacle we had left was the ticket to the quarterfinals and we consolidated what we had budgeted. That’s why I say I leave the job done.”
He even hinted that he would not have left in the event of a European disaster. “I don’t know if the game hadn’t been won what would have happened. Surely we would have done nothing because I don’t like to leave anything halfway. That’s why I got angry with some defeats because there were a lot of euros at stake,” he recalled.
In the face of the financial rescue of the club, which in the last seven years has lost 200 million on a recurring basis, Laporta insisted that “there is still work to do.” Romeu warned that “I predict a splendid Barça but we have to make complex decisions, pull the rope without it breaking.” They both embraced each other in a farewell hug.
