How is this even possible?!
Barcelona: Charged with corruption .... again!
- Thread starter The Boy
- Start date
How is this even possible?!
Levers.
They've got way too many. All seems a bit shady.
Griezman won’t be returning at all, once he plays in 40% of matches available his buy clause is activated at Atletico. They want him.
Depay will definitely found a suitor, Umtiti is the trickier one.
Are Barca fans the Liverpool fans of Spanish football? Endless bending over backwards to make it seem like they aren't having an absolute mare
If Barca ends up signing these players then they’d have one of the best transfer windows of all clubs for the year so far. My issue with Barca is how they are going about their business and treating their own players. Have no problem with their future, they’ll be fine as attendance gets back to pre Covid levels
i don’t think it will. Their attendance had a big share of „Messi tourists“.
They still have enough of a reputation given their success, especially in the Messi era, and Barcelona is enough of a popular tourist destination on its own that I think they'll be fine. We've been shite for almost a decade and still easily fill OT, and I'd argue that Barca with their current players are still more attractive for the average fan than ours, Ronaldo aside. As far as tourist attractions go, If I was neutral I'd much rather go to Barcelona and Camp Nou than Manchester and Old Trafford too.
The main problem is that even with full stands the gate revenue is not nearly enough of their total revenue to make a dent in their debt. They need to whore out everything they have from naming and TV rights to sponsorships for years into the future to have the slightest hope of staying afloat. Signing players like Raphinha for €70m is insanity considering how skint they are. Worst run club in the world by far.
If I were a Barca fan I'd be pissed off at laportas strategy.
The ground is all prepped for austerity. Everyone would understand the need for it. A year of top four and a nice little CL run would have been more than acceptable and very achievable for this squad.
And then they go and act like this, spending money they don't need to spend at a time where they are selling future profits just to make ends meet.
They make it absolutely ridiculous to talk about salary reductions when they then go and spend big on lewandowski and raphinha.
The ground is all prepped for austerity. Everyone would understand the need for it. A year of top four and a nice little CL run would have been more than acceptable and very achievable for this squad.
And then they go and act like this, spending money they don't need to spend at a time where they are selling future profits just to make ends meet.
They make it absolutely ridiculous to talk about salary reductions when they then go and spend big on lewandowski and raphinha.
So they can't pay FDJ's wages and try to buy Raphinha and Lewa!
Unbelievable.
Unbelievable.
Yeah I agree with this. Seems a big risk to take, possibly with the clubs existence, when a few years back to basics and out of the limelight would have done them wonders.
It doesn't matter if they have the best transfer window in the history of football, they can't fecking pay their existing players, nevermind the new ones
I wonder if bringing in an investor/private owner is at least a theoretical possibility - I mean Chelsea just got sold for what, 4 billion dollars give or take? Barca should be worth even more I‘d guess. I do like their club structure in theory (socios et al.) but in reality it doesn‘t help imho to have every other year a huge election re presidency with all strings attached (on the other hand at least they could get rid of Bartomeo that way as well).
edit: and by bringing in an investor / selling shares I don‘t mean this year or next but if they can communicate such a scenario as realistic I don‘t see them failing to find a bank funding their craze anytime soon.
This thread will be nice when Barcelona finances the Espai Barca for €1,500M...
Their capacity is 99k and they were "only" running a 70% to 80% utilisation with Messi and before Covid:
https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/fc-barcelona/besucherzahlenentwicklung/verein/131
I don't expect it to be higher than 70% next season but we will see.
Their strategy is obvious. Spend their way to footballing success to have commercial success correlate. Let's not forget they were an UEFA Cup side before they signed Ronaldinho and then the golden generation came through. I don't think they're a commercial monster like Real Made or Manchester United.
We can be critical and still be nice. How your operating right now has to be considered the biggest gamble in football history.
So, let's get this right. Barto was a criminal for trying to buy his way to success, but Laporte is a genius because he has 'levered' his way to success? Okie dokie...
Both rely on success or they’re in the shit. It’s the exact same gamble
This article helps give things some more context.
https://www.espn.in/football/barcel...-players-while-chasing-more-stars-this-summer
https://www.espn.in/football/barcel...-players-while-chasing-more-stars-this-summer
Until we see the debt, budget and wage bill we will not know if it is a gamble or not.
Bartomeu was useless and stupid with his decisions and indebted Barcelona brutally.
Laporta is trying to restructure the economy but it takes time, there are long-term contracts signed and it is not easy. In addition to the Spanish FFP.
Barcelona having a competitive and balanced team in the economic section will be fine.
Yes, finally a good article in English explaining the situation.
Just a couple of notes:
1.- Barcelona sold 10% of the television rights for €207M but the capital gain is €267M.
2.- Barcelona can buy back the television rights under certain conditions.
I still don't understand why Barca don't take it easy for a few years, gradually trim their wage bill and structure to sustainable levels.
You can call it restructuring, but deals like
they aren't exactly careful reform, it's selling away the future for short term gain. Sometimes that may be a necessary bit of breathing room to survive, but doing it so you can sign players like Lewandowski or Rafinha sounds just crazy to me.
Dortmund did the same some 25 years ago, sold the stadium leased it back, sold marketing rights, sold the club logo and then they missed the CL twice and found themselves at the mercy of the authorities and investors.
You can call it restructuring, but deals like
Dortmund did the same some 25 years ago, sold the stadium leased it back, sold marketing rights, sold the club logo and then they missed the CL twice and found themselves at the mercy of the authorities and investors.
Not if they’re budgeting for league wins and deep CL runs like last year? What happens if you’re in a CL group of death? It’s almost a disaster already.
You’re strangely upbeat about all of this. I remember Barca fans being just as committed when telling me how important Messi and his 2m a week wage was to the club.
Exactly. It's fecking stupid. They can afford to do it because they know somebody will bail them out. They're playing around with debts by not paying them and instead cashing out their future earnings.
Not to mention sign a couple of frees - Kessie, Christensen and they still want Azpilicueta. After spending on Ferran Torres in Jan, and Traore/Auba.
Because Barcelona not being competitive makes it earn much less money. In the end you spend less but you earn much less, and if you do not enter the Champions League it is a debacle. And top players won't want to come anymore.
Why not make adjustments and reduce debt little by little without losing competitive capacity?
Barcelona puts in budget to win the league not for the income, but to increase the expenses.
It costs Barcelona around €30M in bonuses for winning it. Between being first and second the difference in income is minimal.
Without understanding the full complexity of all the financials, the way it looks is, president doesn't give a feck about long term financial health of the club. Only thing they care is this season and winning next election.
All the future income that was sold and deferred wages that are piled up is for future president to take care of, who will obviously blame previous president and goes on to do more damage.
I might be completely wrong here but that's how I see it.
All the future income that was sold and deferred wages that are piled up is for future president to take care of, who will obviously blame previous president and goes on to do more damage.
I might be completely wrong here but that's how I see it.
It is nonsense to suggest that Barca would be in such dire financial straits that they would risk being outside the Champions League entirely. Last season was a total disaster for Barca, lowest points total in 15 years, and they still finished 2nd. Your turnover is something like 2x that of Atletico and 4x that of Sevilla. The spending power of Barca even under austerity measures dwarfs them. With a good manager and sensible transfers there is absolutely no way teams like Bilbao and Socieded will overtake Barca.
This "gotta spend money to earn money logic" is what brought Barca this far in the first place. All they are doing now is selling off future income to keep going like this a little longer. They just finished 2nd last season, they shouldn't need €200m investment or Lewandowski to do so again or finish top four at the very very worst. Betting on anything beyond that when you are already crippled by debt is reckless.
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The strategy is obvious, but it's high risk. If the success doesn't come pretty much immediately, then you've just loaded more high wage players onto the wage bill over long contract periods and therefore options for a more low-risk gradual solution are removed.
Considering the quality of your youngsters and the strong Barca youth system, you could almost certainly let the high earners move on, play a young team and still finish in domestic positions that allow for strong income. Instead you're gambling on having a high wage team able to compete with a resurgent Real and a strong Atletico, and to be able to compete in a CL which is currently full of extremely strong PL teams alongside Real, PSG, Bayern et al.
It just seems like a wild level of risk to me.
If Barcelona does not have a competitive team, attendance at the stadium will fall by 30k+ of supporters, less merchandise sales and visits to the museum. And then you have to add sponsors and other economic issues.
One thing that is not being taken into account is Spain's FFP. The available amount is dictated on July 31, if Barcelona does not present balanced numbers will not be able to register players.
The FFP of Spain does not allow clubs to borrow, not counting the exceptional case of a pandemic.
If Barcelona has very unbalanced numbers, the league will not let them register.
Are you telling me that will happen if Barca accepts 2nd - 4th place for a few years? Mes que un club indeed, even Man Utd still sell their tickets
It's been an embarrassing summer for the club on just about every level so far. A real shame, but true colours are being shown.
Basically all comes down to the dangers of fan ownership. Laporta wouldn't get re-elected if they seem like they've given up trying to topple a double winning Real Madrid.
I think it depends on how you sell it to the public. If you're being honest about it and tell them that the club's finances are a mess and it'll need a couple of years of modesty to turn things around or else the consequences could be catastrophic, then I think there is a decent chance that they could get people on board. In Barca's case they can even blame their predecessors, call themselves reformers and create some story of La Masia carrying them to a bright future.
But if you tell people you've got a master plan and it's perfectly normal to see a quarter of your TV money for the next 25 years and half your merchandise operation for short term cash, then it's of course harder to downsize a bit.
The idea that your home attendance will drop by a third just because you finish second for a couple of seasons while still continuing to play in the Champions League is ludicrous. No wonder Barca presidents get away with murder with fans as credulous as you.
Im not saying you can't manage to get the numbers balances to a point where the league allow you to continue, but currently you have a number of long term contracts you could potentially clear out to give yourself a much healthier balance sheet moving ahead over the next few years. By clearing out some just so you can replace them with others over longer term deals, you're locking yourself into a longer term risk factor. If you don't get major success, you have less options open to you to resolve the situation, and the available options then are much more dramatic for the clubs long term future.
Are you telling me that will happen if Barca accepts 2nd - 4th place for a few years? Mes que un club indeed, even Man Utd still sell their tickets
There you see the demand of a club. If you're an incompetent president and you don't make a competitive team people protest and don't go to the stadium.
Then you can do like Dortmund, not to win anything in 10 years, sell your best players and have the field full. A club without ambition, then it is normal that they all want to leave there and only see it as a transition team.
And from what I see you are happy with it.
This year there were matches with 40,000 spectators. I know the club very well to know what would happen if Barcelona had a team without aspirations.
Practically all the players in the squad except Piqué, Alba, Busquets, FDJ and Ter Stegen are already within the salary limit. Busquets has one year left on his contract and Piqué and Jordi Alba have two. And the players already signed and who are going to be signed will also be within the salary scale.