Laporta 'hopeful' of Becks transfer

Barcelona president Joan Laporta said today he was still hopeful that Beckham will become a Barcelona player and stated the England captain would take on a big leadership role at the club if he joined.

Negotiations with the player, he admitted, must still take place.

“It depends on the representatives,” he told Sky News today. “We are doing our best to incorporate him into our club, Barcelona. We hope that we will have a solution on this matter this week.”

Laporta is a 40-year-old lawyer in the Spanish city whose popularity skyrocketed last week when Manchester United announced they had accepted his offer for Beckham, subject to him winning the election to become president of Barcelona.

But he has stressed since winning the presidential election on Sunday that he made no promise to the Barca socios (members) that the England captain would arrive.

“My team has been elected for its whole project,” he said. “David Beckham, as me, is a part of the whole project.

“Of course David Beckham is a very important piece of this project. If we can’t get the player, we would be sad, but at the same time we have another solution.”