Joan Laporta appointed as new Barcelona president

Joan Laporta, the former president of Barcelona from 2003 to 2010, has been elected as the club’s current president.

He’s also said to be Barcelona’s best hope of persuading Messi to extend his deal.

To become Barcelona’s next president, Joan Laporta, 58, has won the battle defeating Victor Font and Antoni Freixa in the process.

Laporta was expected to win with 58.3 percent of the vote over Font (31.3) and Freixa in an exit poll conducted by Catalan television station TV3 (9.3).

There were 51,983 eligible votes in total. Laporta received 54.28 percent of the vote in the end, which was close to the final figures (30,184 votes).