By Paul Atherton

Laporta lies second in the race to win the Barca presidency

Manchester United have agreed to sell David Beckham to Barcelona if Joan Laporta is elected president of the Spanish club.

But who is the man promising to lure the England captain from Old Trafford?

Laporta, a 40-year-old lawyer whose right-hand man is Sandro Rosell, a former employee of Nike, trails an advertising magnate called Lluis Bassat, who was second to out-going president Joan Gaspart in the last election.

But Laporta has made the capture of Beckham a key aspect of his campaign and is fast gaining ground on his main rival.

Laporta's election campaign mirrors that of Florentino Perez's election-winning deal to bring Luis Figo - from Barca - to Real Madrid in 2000.

WHAT NEXT AT NOU CAMP? Wed: Laporta reaffirms that Barca will sign Beckham Thursday: Beckham returns to England from US Fri: TV debate between presidential candidates Sat: No campaigning allowed Sun: Voting begins at 9am - closes at 9pm. Result at 10pm (BST)

If he fails to close a deal with Beckham by Sunday, Laporta says he has plans for another superstar instead.

He has already beaten Arsenal and United to the signing of Turkey's international goalkeeper Rustu Recber, and has promised a new coach.

Laporta's rivals have dismissed his promise to sign Beckham as irresponsible.

After all, Barca are a club in crisis, �100m in debt and struggling to qualify for next season's Uefa Cup.

Bassat, who claims to have rejected an offer to sign the United midfielder, proposes to cut players' salaries and curb spending.

But that is an old-fashioned position that may not appeal to the Catalan club's disillusioned fans.

Laporta's campaign team are pushing his youthful image and promising a revolution with Beckham as the figurehead.

Confident mood

"I think Beckham could be like Johan Cruyff when he came here in 1973," he said this week. "Beckham could be the Cruyff of 2003.

"If we win the elections, we will put Barcelona back on top in Catalunya, Spain and in the world."

Two weeks ago Laporta was trailing Bassat by over 20% in the polls.

Bassat still leads the latest poll with 26.6%, but Laporta is now less than three points down on his rival, with close to 30% still unsure how they will vote on Sunday.

Laporta's major task in the coming days is to convince the England captain to agree to the move, but Rosell is in confident mood.

"We'll wait until Beckham gets back from holiday on Friday night or Saturday morning," Rosell said.

"That's when we'll take the second step of talking to him and his people, explaining our project and talking."

Whether Beckham has any interest in leaving Manchester for Barcelona has yet to be clarified.

It seems unlikely - but then so was the idea of Luis Figo swapping the Catalan giants for their bitter rivals.