Barcelona are on the eve of a crucial day in their summer. The board and President Joan Laporta will tomorrow ask the members to vote on their ability to execute ‘financial levers’, which will potentially involve further loans and a sale of assets.
Those measures are likely to have a heavy influence on the signing ability of the Catalan club. As it stands, Barcelona are short of the required income to make grand changes to the squad, something Xavi Hernandez no doubt wants to do.
Speaking to Marca in an interview the day before the vote, Economic Vice-President Eduard Romeu was asked if the activation of those financial levers would allow them to make a big signing. His answer was given with caution.
“If we are able to obtain the confidence of the members and we are able to close the operations in the terms that we want to, we would be in a normalised situation.”
“From there you have to rely on an income of money from the sale of assets and it would be an income that we would have to administrate. That is to say, that part of it should go to strengthening the team and meeting the demands of the sporting area, but it’s important not to forget that we have a large debt that we have to continue reducing.”
“They are two options. We can’t commit the errors of the past.”
That caution is well-placed, given the dire financial situation Barcelona ended up in after a policy of pushing the club’s economy to the limit.
Equally however, fans will demand results next season following two campaigns that were ultimately disappointing.
Romeu was also quizzed about the possibility of bringing Robert Lewandowski to the club, which he seemed more optimistic about.
“He is one of the requests of the technical staff. The player has manifested his desires. It’s very important that a player of this level shows that predisposition to come to Barcelona. If we are able to do our jobs, he is a viable option.”
Perhaps the most interesting detail to pick out from those statements is the fact that Lewandowski was requested by Xavi Hernandez and the Sporting Directorate. It clearly shows where they feel the squad is in most need of improvement and that they do not trust Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to lead the line.
