Barcelona have been warned that they will be unable to make any signings this summer unless they raise £180m, according to reports, as they once again flirt with financial ruin.
Last season, the Blaugrana used a series of economic ‘levers’ to combat their financial issues, which included a sponsorship with Spotify and the sale of future TV rights. This then funded a hefty summer of spending, which saw Jules Kounde, Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessie and Raphinha headline the arrivals lounge.
However, they look set to fall foul of the rules again this summer, and they will not have the levers to help them this time around, potentially sparking a fire sale at Camp Nou this summer.
‘As of today, Barcelona doesn’t have any room in its budget to spend in the upcoming transfer window’, La Liga president Javier Tebas explained last week.
‘Barcelona has been involved in questionable behaviour which has had an impact on LaLiga and we are acting accordingly. We have ruled that they can no longer sign more players”.
‘They sold off £620m (€700m) in TV rights and tried to find different ways to solve the situation but they won’t be able to do that next season. We have strict economic controls. At the end of each window, we tell all the clubs in LaLiga what they can spend.
‘They have to reduce their investment in players and we have encouraged them to sell players because, for every amount they raise in sales, they can spend 40 percent of that.’
The news will spark rumours aplenty about the potential sales of the likes of Frenkie De Jong and Raphinha, while Ferran Torres could be another on the departures list following an underwhelming season to date.
It also effectively rules out a move for Lionel Messi, unless funds to pay his enormous salary can be pulled out of thin air in the months to come.
