"He has a contract until 2009 and I hope that he remains until the end of my mandate in 2010," said Laporta. "We have the utmost confidence in him. He is a very organised person, I have no intention of a technical change."

On reports that Johan Cruyff could arrive as a stop-gap replacement for Rijkaard, Laporta insisted: "He meets often with Rijkaard, they are great friends and sometimes Txiki Beguiristain also participates.

"They discuss things on technical and tactical aspects."