Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu has insisted that La Liga will do all it can “to fight against the Premier League”.
English top-flight clubs are in line for a huge cash windfall thanks to a £5.1bn television deal, which will take effect from the 2016-17 season, but the patron insists Spain aim to use the “the best League competition in the world” as a reference point.
“We are going to fight against the Premier League. We want to have the best players in our League,” Bartomeu told BBC Sport.
“It’s true that the Premier League right now is the best League competition in the world, not only in a sporting way but in terms of income too."
“The new Premier League television rights contract is something that the rest of the Leagues have to follow.
“But no other club in the world has as big an income as Barcelona.
“The Premier League is a reference point. La Liga are learning a lot of things from them.
“We have a new law that obliges the clubs to sell all the TV rights jointly because we have to follow the Premier League.
"Barcelona and Real Madrid are the biggest clubs but others like Atletico Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla or Athletic Bilbao are doing a nice job.
“We want people to watch our competition, not only the Premier League.
“On an individual club basis, we know the competition is getting closer, not just with the Premier League but also Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.”
