"Luis Diaz wanted to come, and Nico Williams was offered to us by his agent"

Another summer, another intriguing transfer window for Barcelona. The Catalan giants are once again at the centre of speculation, though not necessarily because of lavish spending.

President Joan Laporta addressed these issues and more in an interview with Mundo Deportivo, an excerpt of which was published on Thursday.

One of the first topics discussed was the arrival of Marcus Rashford: "We are very happy because a player of great quality is coming, with a wonderful age to come to Barcelona with extraordinary motivation.

"Personally, I have seen the excitement that he has to come to Barcelona. One of his virtues is that he is sincere. His dream was to play for United all his life. He arrived at the age of seven and was born there with an interesting life.

"He wanted to be a one-club man. It's nice that a player says this with all sincerity. But when a situation arises in his life that he did not expect, the team that he had always liked is Barcelona. He had faced us and had Barcelona on his radar."

But before this deal materialised, other names were also mentioned: "There were several options and I am very happy because we have ended up getting the option that I liked the most.

"It is true that I also liked Luis Diaz, a very complete player, but due to his circumstances, with a very entrenched Liverpool, it was complicated, although I thank the player who wanted to come at all times.

"The same thing happened with Nico Williams. And because Luis' thing was complicated and that we were in the process of negotiating with Rashford, Nico's agent came offering the possibility of signing him.

"Deco told me about it, I initially preferred to work on the other two options, but in these cases, I always listen to the sports management. He said that we should at least listen because he is an interesting player, because he can hold his own on the wing.

"There were negotiations, but there was a lot of difference between what we were told and what it ended up being in terms of payment terms, the agent's commission and a series of variables that already had signs that the operation would not take place.

"Deco set a deadline of 48 hours, and if they did not accept our conditions, we were not going to do that operation. In the end, it was not done. In parallel, we worked with the other two and Rashford's was clarified," he explained.

More on Rashford: "He has come strong as a rock, he is very excited, he has fitted in well with his teammates, and I am very happy because two years ago he beat us in the Europa League. He made the difference in the tie, and that is why I am very happy that he has come."

Lamine Yamal's party

One of the most controversial issues of recent days has been about Lamine Yamal's birthday party, whom Laporta has not hesitated to defend: "It was a private party and everything that Lamine does now, and he knows it, will always be in the spotlight and in the eye of the hurricane.

"For me, he had an 18th birthday celebration, and what I regret is not having gone. It was an extraordinary party; they had a great time, and they were very elegant. The reason? They are 18 years old.

"They chose this one, and it has a fun point; he did it with his friends, with people from the show business and the current world.

"It was in the private sphere, then he came to train and trains like everyone else. And in this sense, nothing to reproach him for. On the contrary, congratulate him, and I am glad that they had fun at a birthday party," he concluded.