Barcelona’s attempts to once again establish themselves as a force in La Liga and the Champions League this season have seen the heavily indebted Catalans gamble on their future to allow for a staggering summer spending spree.
A year after being forced to let Lionel Messi go as reported debts of €1.35 billion (A$1.96 billion) crippled the club, Barcelona have spent €153 million ($222 million Australians) in transfer fees alone to bolster their squad, with Robert Lewandowski the most notable newcomer.
“This is a very exciting season. Nothing would give me more pleasure than to make all the fans happy,” said coach Xavi Hernandez before last weekend’s 6-0 friendly win over Mexico’s Pumas UNAM.
“That means winning trophies. That’s our main goal.”
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After three years of struggles, on and off the pitch, the summer has brought hope back to the Camp Nou, with president Joan Laporta speaking of an exciting “new era” as the club introduced Lewandowski as a player of the Barcelona
“Euphoria” was the headline of the local newspaper Sport on the same day. Even Madrid sports newspaper Marca admitted Barca were “scary” in the wake of last weekend’s defeat by Pumas UNAM when Lewandowski scored his first goal since joining from Bayern Munich.
However, as Barcelona have raised the funds to sign Lewandowski, as well as centre-backs Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen, AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie and Leeds United’s Brazilian winger Raphinha have raised eyebrows.
Faced with severe spending limits to comply with the financial controls of the League, Barcelona knew that they needed to raise money quickly to be able to invest in any signings and, above all, to register new players.
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– PULLING ‘LEVERS’ –
They quickly turned to selling assets to generate cash by activating a series of economic “levers”.
The club sold 25 percent of its domestic television rights over the next quarter of a century to US investment firm Sixth Street for around €400 million.
Barcelona sold 24.5 percent of Barca Studios, which manages the club’s digital business and audiovisual productions, to Socios.com for €100 million on August 1, and then another 25 percent to the American investment firm GDA Luma for another 100 million euros.
In a few weeks, 600 million euros had been taken to fill the coffers.
The aim was to clean up the club’s finances, make it possible to increase the salary cap set by the League and allow all new signings to register for the start of the season.
In addition, Barça signed the largest sponsorship deal in its history with Spotify, contributing 435 million euros for the music streaming giant to appear on the club’s shirts and have naming rights for the Camp Nou .
All told, this series of deals totals €1 billion, so Barcelona look well placed to be serious title contenders again as they prepare to host Rayo Vallecano this weekend.
Only time will tell if mortgaging some of the club’s assets in return for an immediate cash infusion will pay off.
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– THE CHILD TO LOVE? –
However, Barcelona are still waiting for La Liga to allow them to register their five new signings, although they hope to do so in time for the season which starts this weekend.
They also hope to further ease their financial woes by reducing their wage bill.
The Catalans have tried to convince Frenkie de Jong to leave, even with suggestions being made that a contract he signed in 2020 was not legal. The Dutch midfielder says he wants to stay.
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Martin Braithwaite, Samuel Umtiti and Memphis Depay are also candidates to leave the Camp Nou, with the aim of Juventus.
In addition, attempts have been made to persuade some players, including Gerard Piqué and Sergio Busquets, to accept salary reductions.
Barça’s “economic miracle”, as the press has called it, has yet to be transformed into a football miracle.