Laporta faces two crucial weeks

Besides the draw, which could lead Barça Athletic to return to the Hypermotion League and the final of the Roller Hockey League, Sports activities at FC Barcelona are frozen. The first team players are at the Eurocup or on holiday, but without a doubt the two weeks until June 30 are the most decisive in this second term of Joan Laporta.. It is during this period of time that the club should close the financial year, which will allow it to return to the norm of allowing 1:1 signings, that is, investing in transfers as much as is being sold. Last week, in his speech to the Senate (the most senior partners), Laporta was optimistic about this, but the situation is more than complicated. And he even said that “green shoots” were visible. The reality is different. Two critical weeks are coming.

They are looking for 100 million. This is the amount Barcelona must receive by June 30. Because? Because This is the amount the club budgeted for the sale of 49% of the club’s audiovisual division. A few months ago it was known as Barça Studios and is now called Barça Media. Until January last year, an agreement was reached with the German investment fund Libero to contribute 40 of these 100 million. But The Germans have not paid and will not pay. Barça have accused them of non-compliance in a lawsuit that, if La Liga president Javier Tebas is generous, could become an argument in Barcelona’s favor, so that the employers’ association will confirm its reports, suggesting that it will receive the money one of these days.. If it is not introduced, these millions will increase the already huge debt of the kule with retroactive effect. Brown.

Optimism. Barcelona have been saying for months that there are many investors interested in taking over the portion that Libero has left unpaid, but nothing has been announced at the moment. With the clock ticking, the club assures that this same week or at the latest by June 30, the name of the investor who will take on part of this default and join Barça Media will be announced. They believe that the remaining unpaid portion can be proportionately distributed in the accounts to La Liga.

Nike. Barcelona’s main sponsor has turned from enemy to savior. Laporta even said in an interview with RAC1 that Nike had not behaved very well with the club and that “we had to show our teeth” to the American multinational corporation. The president dropped hints and the club took steps to either accept the offer from Puma (which doesn’t even have a physical store in Barcelona to begin with) or launch its own clothing brand. Both initiatives were rejected. One for a fine that will be imposed by Nike, which has a contract with the company until June 30, 2028, and which will be settled in a trial in the United States without any possibility of winning it. The second option was excluded for production, logistics and image reasons. After the hysteria, Barca are hoping to renew their contract with Nike, in which the club is asking for an advance of €100 million as a continuity bonus. The club’s poor sporting performance in Europe saw Barça earn from 65 million a year to 55.1 million after failing to reach the semi-finals of the main tournament. Barça hopes that this matter will be resolved in early July. Nike will continue to dress Barcelona, ​​the president said in a snippet of an interview he gave to club media that was omitted from the release released to the public.

Credit policy. May 19 last year LVanguardia reported that the club is negotiating with various banking organizations about a loan policy worth 100 million euros in order to be able to pay the second part of the sports salaries., half of which is due in January and the other on June 30th. The amount is 250 million euros. What happens is that according to Article 20.7 of the club’s constitution, the operation must be approved by the meeting if it exceeds 10% of the organization’s budget. Barça’s budget currently stands at 859 million, and therefore the maximum loan that can be requested without partners’ approval will be 85.9 million, not 100.

Debts and decreased income. Barcelona, ​​despite Laporta saying they are set to close a normal year with a profit He has been accumulating debt since 2018. Every year it adds an average of 200 million losses. this figure worsened due to the pandemic and which the club was unable to overcome. Actually They are the only team among the top ten in Europe that have not recovered their 2019 (pre-pandemic) revenue. According to most sources outside the club, The club’s debt is currently between 1,000 and 1,200 million euros, to which we must add almost 1,500 million for the construction of the new Camp Nou.. The club insists that these figures are not accurate, but the collapse of the club’s financial position in recent months seems to confirm a thesis that has another derivative: leverage. Asset sales, which began a year ago, limit earnings in the coming seasons. Not to mention strange IPO projects. audiovisual divisions of the club, which in 2021 had a turnover of 470,000 euros and were valued at 400 million. At the moment this project is in the drawer.

Sports impact. In conclusion, this landscape leaves The club’s sports policy is paralyzed

Until we know if we can get back to 1:1 scale. Deco, the sporting director, and Hansi Flick, the new coach, form the team based on assumptions, but They have nothing to hold on to until they know whether Laporta and his cabinet will organize reports in these two weeks and Tebas will approve them. If this were not the case, no matter what they say, there would be no choice but to carry out what are called “pain sales” from within the club. That is, homegrown players who leave behind net profits to balance the numbers. To avoid this, an economic miracle is needed. And let it be now. In two weeks.

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