Joan Laporta: 'Eric Abidal will be Barcelona's director of football'

Joan Laporta has revealed that he will appoint former left-back Eric Abidal as Barcelona's new director of football should he be re-elected the club's new president.

Laporta served as Barca's president for seven years between 2003 and 2010 and he is now in the running for a second term at the Camp Nou, where the voting is due to take place next month.

If Laporta was to win the vote, 35-year-old Abidal, who made 193 appearances for the Catalans, will be given a leading position on the board.

"He is an extraordinary person. In this project he has shown amazing motivation and excitement. He will be Barcelona's director of football," Laporta said at a press conference.

During his time as a Barca player, Abidal was diagnosed with liver cancer, which required the Frenchman to undergo a transplant procedure.