Joan Laporta has stated he will make the iconic ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ slogan the official motto of La Masia if he wins the presidential elections at Barcelona.
The club’s youth academy, which has produced the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and more over the past couple of decades, has been criticised over the past few seasons for not only not seeing players progress to become regulars at first-team level, but also not giving them the chance to step up and show their worth before moving on.
Laporta, who was president from 2003 to 2010, has also highlighted a desire to keep Lionel Messi at the club beyond next summer as one of the cornerstones of his election promises.
You’ll Never Walk Alone is widely associated with Liverpool, but is also sung by Celtic and Borussia Dortmund.
“La Masia will be a personalized accompaniment to the player, under the slogan of you will never walk alone,” Laporta explained on his website.
“We want it to become a Center 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 Barça.”
Laporta further explained that he would be looking to promote women’s sport within the club, return to the values of the ‘more than a club’ slogan and look to the supporters’ associations as more involved entities if he won the election, which is due to take place in 2021.
