One of the first things that the board headed by Laporta has done is to get a loan of 525 million euros
Barcelona reached an agreement in principle with Messi, so it must present the numbers to The league, which then must verify that the club is not breaching its spending limit. Indeed, there are two ways in which the Barcelona You can make enough room to register the Argentine’s new contract next season: increasing revenue and reducing the wage bill.
One of the first things that the board headed by Laporta has done is to get a loan from Goldman Sachs worth 525 million euros. That money will not be used to pay Messi his new contract, but it will be used, in part, to restructure part of the club’s debt. Short-term payments will be replaced by longer-term payments, which means that debt payments will not affect the club’s spending limit as much as they would for the following season. The loan has also been used to pay players their retroactive salaries after they agreed to postponements last November.
The main area where the Barcelona can accommodate enrollment Messi -and this is also a situation that applies to new signings such as Agüero, Depay, García and Emerson Royal although to a lesser extent – it is through the transfer market. The club has already traded a handful of fringe players, including the American winger. Konrad de la Fuente, Jean-Clair Todibo, Carles alena Y Junior firpo, for about 35 million euros. The salary of Francisco Trincao has also been saved with his loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers, while the club of the Premier League He has the option to sign the winger permanently next summer for about 25 million euros.
Matheus fernandesIn the meantime, he ended his link by email. A transfer of 7 million euros from Palmeiras During the Bartomeu era, who has now returned to his old team, sources said the Brazilian midfielder is considering suing the club over the way his contract was terminated. However, that is not enough business. Thebes He says that for every four euros that Barcelona saves, he will be able to invest one euro. That will continue to be the case until they adhere to their new spending limit.
“For example, if the players that Barça has at the moment, Agüero and others, are going to cost 50 million euros next season, it means that 200 million euros have to be cut in salary or in terms of transfers,” said Tebas. .
It could be reduced to two options. The easiest option, financially, might be to accept that Messi Go away. The complicated route, the one that Laporta follows, are opening the doors to offers for most of the squad in an attempt to keep Messi as the leader of an emerging team with young people like Frenkie de Jong, Pedri Y Ansu Fati.
The fastest way to save money is through Antoine Griezmann. Barcelona could not aspire to obtain the 120 million euros invested they made for Griezmann in 2019 when it arrived from Atlético de Madrid, but now he is the club’s player with the highest salary. He reportedly pockets around 30 million euros gross annually, with Messi no longer receiving a salary as a free player.
Club sources did not confirm if it is as simple as that Messi or Griezmann have to go for the numbers to work, but they did say that the Barça wants to Messi stay and that they would be open to hear offers for Griezmann. However, sources close to the forward’s side assured that the Barcelona he has not communicated anything to the Gaul.
Meanwhile, the Barça you’re struggling when it comes to the other big income. Sources said they expect things to speed up now that the Euro 2020 and the America Cup have ended, but also admit that it is proving difficult to find clubs willing to take on the salaries paid to players like Samuel Umtiti Y Philippe Coutinho. An agent told ESPN that all the clubs Europe they know how “desperate” he is Barça. Umtiti earns around 12 million euros gross and the Barça he hopes to find a loan for the French defender. For his part, a source close to Coutinho, who earns around 20 million euros gross, said that he is willing to leave if the right offer arrives with the interested AC Milan, but the Brazilian has not played since December due to a knee injury. and that complicates things.
TO Miralem Pjanic, who signed last summer from Juventus for € 60 million as part of an accounting gimmick in which Arthur Melo He went to Juventus for 72 million euros, he has also been told that he would leave the institution. Sources told ESPN that Pjanic is talking to “big clubs” in England, Italy, France and Germany and is open to moving as he has barely had low minutes Ronald Koeman. The substitute goalkeeper Net and the striker Martin Braithwaite They might as well leave.
The extreme Ousmane Dembélé will stay for now after injuring himself with France on the Euro 2020, and a source close to the defense Clement Lenglet said that like the left back Jordi Alba, has no intention of leaving.
Meanwhile, the Barça he’s begging the players to take pay cuts. Lenglet, De Jong, Gerard Piqué and Marc-Andre ter Stegen signed new agreements in late 2020 that were adjustable to help the club deal with its financial crisis and the pandemic of COVID-19. The Barça hopes that the canteranos Sunrise, Sergio Busquets Y Sergi Roberto (the latter has a contract that expires in 2022) accept similar conditions.
Also on the table is the possibility of selling a stake in Barca Corporate, a subsidiary that houses the Barca Academy project, Barca Innovation Hub, Barca Licensing and Merchandising (BLM) and Barca Studios. But the sources admitted that there are doubts about following that option because selling rights could be a case of “bread for today, hunger tomorrow.”