new revelations on the catastrophic financial situation of FC Barcelona

In recent months, the situation is still the same. FC Barcelona’s finances are catastrophic. Before the return to power of Joan Laporta, the club culé officially announced that its financial liabilities (i.e. all the debts blaugrana) amounted to 1.173 billion euros, or 15% more compared to the 2018/2019 season. . But that’s not all. The posted net debts were € 488.4 million and those to credit companies went from € 72.3 million to € 279.3 million.

Staggering figures due in large part to the huge shortfall caused by the health crisis and the closure of stadiums to the public (no more ticket office or museum revenue). And yet, that does not prevent the Catalan dailies from mentioning the possible arrival of Erling Haaland. A rumor which is surprising when we know that such an operation represents a total cost (transfer fee, commissions, salary) estimated at several hundred million euros.

Depreciation that is very expensive

Today, it therefore seems more likely to see a Sergio Agüero free of any contract land than the Norwegian striker Borussia Dortmund. Especially since Goal explains that culé training is faced with a huge puzzle. The media recalls that the club’s payroll represented almost 70% of the total budget, long before the pandemic. Or the limit set by La Liga and UEFA. Since then, the Covid-19 has been there and Barça’s income has fallen sharply. From then on, the payroll became a big problem.

To avoid the worst, the Culés reached an agreement to spread the payment of wages. But that’s only delaying the deadline. Faced with the financial concerns of its teams, La Liga announced in March the salary limits (revised downwards) set for each team of the first and second division. Thus, Barça cannot spend more than € 347m per season. This includes fixed salaries, bonuses, bonuses and amortization of transfers, among others. And it is this last point that poses a problem.

Barça absolutely must sell

As a reminder, the annual cost of the amortization of a transfer corresponds to the amount of the transaction divided by the number of years of the contract signed by the player. Clearly, if you recruit an element for € 50 million and he signs a five-year lease, the cost of the annual depreciation is € 10 million. And in this little game, Goal points out that Barça is supposed to pay 186 M € by June 30! A significant amount due in large part to the very expensive transfer costs of Antoine Griezmann, Philippe Coutinho, Ousmane Dembélé, Frenkie De Jong or even Miralem Panic (around € 110 million out of the € 186 million mentioned above ). And that’s not all.

In addition to these 186 M €, Barça must also pay the current cost of the payroll (around 215 M € specifies Goal). Result: FC Barcelona will spend more than the 347 M € authorized by La Liga. Consequence: the Spanish League will not sanction clubs stuck in such a situation. On the other hand, the excess expenditure recorded will affect the expenditure limit set each year by the authority. In short: if Barça spends € 50m more than the authorized € 347m, it will have to deal next season with a lower spending limit of € 50m (€ 297m instead of € 347m taking the example of the amount of this year). Faced with this terrible observation, and before talking about an arrival of Halaland at Camp Nou, FC Barcelona has no other choice but to sell several items this summer.