Joan Laporta Blasts Agent Over Dro Fernandez's PSG Move

Barcelona, 4 October – FC Barcelona president and re-election candidate Joan Laporta has launched a scathing attack on agent Iván de la Peña, blaming him for the January departure of teenage prospect Dro Fernández to Paris Saint-Germain.

Speaking to Catalan outlet Jijantes just 48 hours before club members vote on the presidency, Laporta accused De la Peña—who also represents PSG coach Luis Enrique—of betrayal after the 18-year-old winger left for the French capital in a deal worth approximately €8 million, marginally above his €6 million release clause.

Fernández, who had featured five times under coach Hansi Flick this season, was viewed inside Barça as a future first-team regular. Laporta said the club felt “stabbed in the back” when De la Peña reneged on a verbal pledge to extend the player’s contract, instead engineering the mid-season switch to Paris.

“Thanks to Jorge Mendes, we managed to keep Lamine [Yamal], and we didn’t suffer the same fate as with ‘Lo Pelat’ [De la Peña’s nickname], because of whom Dro left for PSG,” Laporta told Jijantes. “If Jorge Mendes had had Dro, this wouldn’t have happened. It was a betrayal and a disgrace. I felt sorry for Hansi Flick.”

While Barça’s frustration centres on De la Peña, Laporta went out of his way to praise PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi for agreeing to pay slightly above the clause to preserve what he termed “cordial relations between our two clubs.”

The timing of Laporta’s remarks, on the eve of Sunday’s presidential election, underlines the political weight attached to youth development and asset retention among the Barça electorate. Fernández’s exit is the latest flashpoint in an ongoing debate over agent influence at the Camp Nou.

Keywords: