Barcelona are reflecting what they want from other clubs in transfer fees

Barcelona’s latest financial report reveals that the troubled Catalan giants are € 1.2 billion in debt and that 19 different clubs are unpaid for transfers.

The impact of the pandemic has had a major impact on Barcelona’s finances. The club has a large salary bill and – because of the way transfer payments are falling – still has more than £ 174 million, in the long run, for players they have already bought.

Barca are at this year’s No. 1 club for Liverpool’s Premier League rivals. Barcelona still have to pay the Reds € 40 million (around £ 35.5 million) for Philippe Coutinho, despite being signed by Brazil three years ago this January.

The first contract was for a whopping £ 142 million: with £ 105 million handed over to Liverpool and the rest paid in installments. Coutinho has never found his best form and has been loaned to Bayern Munich, but he is back at Barca this season – and the club are still paying for him.

Barcelona are also in debt to Ajax for Frenkie de Jong, with the next payout just over € 16 million (£ 14 million) but with further installments to be paid thereafter. Then there is almost € 10 million (£ 9 million) needed to pay Bordeaux for Malcom. All by the end of June.

And Brazilian floppy Calum – now at Zenit – is not the only player Barcelona have now moved on but are still spending transfer money for the club. Barca still have payments for Arthur, (£ 18m to Gremio) and for Arturo Vidal (£ 10m to Bayern Munich).

One other transfer-related payment is also due to Atletico Madrid, coming from Antoine Griezmann’s contract.

In other words, Barca has a lot of costs for a club with real income problems. Espana Football reports that Barcelona have asked Allianz, Barings, Amundi, Prudential and Goldman Sachs disposals to delay debt repayment, so that the club can avoid bankruptcy.

Barcelona had announced during the 2019/20 season that they expected to be the first club to break the £ 1 billion revenue barrier in a single season. But that figure – perhaps always an ambitious goal – was made impossible by the pandemic.

In October, it was announced that the club ‘s debt had doubled – and the news has not improved since then, despite efforts to reduce the salary bill by the release of the likes of Nelson Semedo, Arthur, Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez.

That’s also why some at the club felt it might not have been a bad idea to sell Lionel Messi last summer, just for the cash injection and salary reduction (so devastating ‘ in which it would be for the fans and the image of the club).

It will be clear that how Barcelona looks to manage its debt – and keep up with their transfer payments – is going to be a big story throughout 2021.