Why Barça still can’t sign five transfers after Covid

Five transfer markets after the coronavirus, FC Barcelona still hasn’t had a quiet summer in terms of signing players. The Blaugrana have been unable to register Dani Olmo, former RB Leipzig midfielder, for two days due to the problems with the club. fair play financial crisis just when it was hoping to return to normal. Why? The club has not been able to close the new contract that it hoped to renew with Nike and now suffers the reality of the former lever of Barça Studios which helped him buy footballers and close past financial years in positive numbers.

Alarm bells rang on Avinguda Arístides Maillol when the Spanish player was unable to play as planned on Saturday. In addition, the club was unable to sign other athletes and has had to deal with unexpected sales such as that of the German Ilkay Gündo?an to Manchester City. As a result, some eyes are already turning to president Joan Laporta for his management and the optimism he sold at the beginning of the summer.

Laporta was hoping to return to the 1:1 rule of La Liga, whereby every euro earned could be used for signings. As of 26 August, this has not been the case. Barcelona remains stuck at 1:4. That is, of every euro earned, only 25 cents can be used for the transfer market.

It is evident that The entity is dragging a cost structure that, as the former economic vice president Eduard Romeu pointed out, generated an operating deficit of 200 million euros per year.Salaries were already under a lot of pressure in relation to revenues even before Covid – in the 2018/2019 season it earned 4.5 million on a turnover of 990 million – and the impact of the pandemic ended up cutting into profitability.

Beyond the inheritance received, however, Barcelona was counting on a series of capital injections for this summer that have not yet occurred.

The main argument with which the current board hoped to resolve the situation is the renewal of the Nike sponsorship contract. Since the first half of the year, the Blaugrana team has tried to improve the conditions agreed by Josep María Bartomeu a decade ago. There was even speculation about starting to manufacture the kits under its own brand and even negotiated with Puma to try to break the contract with the American giant.

However, in the dispute between the club and the company, the court ruled in favor of the company, which has its permanence tied until 2028. Negotiations were resumed and, as published in the sports press, Nike has promised a renewal bonus of 150 million euros and a fixed fee of 90 million per seasonThe contract was expected to be signed in July, but the board has postponed it to the last week of August at the earliest. If it is carried out, which remains to be seen, it would provide a breath of fresh air for registrations.

Beyond Nike, Barcelona hoped to secure a new sponsor for the shorts. It was the United Arab Emirates company Medusa, dedicated to the production of surface disinfectants for bacteria, fungicides and virucides. It was due to be launched in mid-August, but after two LaLiga matches there is no trace of the brand, which was supposed to contribute five million euros per campaign.

The failed lever of Barça Studios

However, the biggest setback for the transfer market for the Blaugrana has been the failed Barça Studios lever, which helped it close the season in profit. The club valued the digital and audiovisual assets subsidiary at 400 million, so in the 2022/2023 season it recorded a profit “from the sale of interests in financial assets” of 192 million thanks to the fact that it was the amount that both Jaume Roures and Socios.com, the two original investors, agreed to pay, to be shared over the next few years. The former was rewarded with the club museum while the Camp Nou was closed and the latter was already collaborating with the institution.

The company recorded additional profits of 208 million euros by revaluing the 51% it still holds in the subsidiary in accordance with what had been agreed with the buyers. If what I sell, 49%, is worth 200 million -192 million after deducting expenses-; what I have now, the remaining 51%, is worth 208 million. “It is a move that if others had made it would be a masterstroke,” boasted the then vice president of the economy, Eduard Romeu, at the presentation of the results.

Both the Nipa Capital fund and the Libero Football Finance fund came to the rescue. The second vehicle already defaulted on the first instalment of 40 million last season, which has not yet been paid. They were the basis for being able to face a stock market flotation of the subsidiary that has already been ruled out. And both the club and the company in their communications to the German stock exchange already take it for granted that they will not be paid. Barça has two options: find an investor to compensate this amount or record it as a loss in its financial statements.

The club found Aramark, the American catering giant, to make up for the payment. The sources consulted differ: it paid 40 million or it paid only 25 million. And it is not clear whether they corresponded to the amounts that Libero failed to pay. Because the payment schedule of Barça Studios does not stop and this summer both Nipa Capital and Socios.com had to face another 60 million that they have not met. Another 60 million to the backpack of the registration fees that had been promised to LaLiga and have still not arrived.

Laporta and his team were counting on finding more alternative investors. He closed the entry of the food company, but He aspired to do the same with both Nike and Spotify.who already have a relationship with the club and have strengthened their collaboration, or with the cryptocurrency firm White bit, according to Sports WorldHowever, the money from both multinationals has not arrived and the club is dragging along this deficit from the audiovisual subsidiary.

This lack of income so far will affect registrations and it remains to be seen how it will impact the financial statements of the entity. It is assumed that the 400 million euros at which Barça Studio was valued are already a thing of the past. What will Barça do? It could accept the devaluation of the company and record it as losses in the new financial year or it could try to prolong the current situation (and hope to make a real profit from the company’s business) with the entry of new investors.

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