Barcelona are working within some tight limits in order to be able to bring in players and strengthen their squad this summer, but they may be forced into an even smaller corner.
Cadena Cope claim that the Blaugrana must clear €60m in their salary limit in order to be able to register signings Inigo Martinez and Ilkay Gundogan. They say it is the result of a delayed payment from one of their economic levers pulled last summer.
After selling 49% of Barca Media for €200m, both Orpheus Media and Socios.com paid €10m up front with a further €60m due this June. However they are yet to pay, and Orpheus Media have publicly said they are up-to-date with their payments. Cope continue on to say that they have been allowed to delay the payment until December, but without that €60m now, then Barcelona are forced to make that money in sales in order to register players before the end of August.
Unless they generate €60m in their salary limit, then they will be unable to do so, but have the added difficulty of only being able to use 50% of the money they save or earn towards that total in order to raise that money. In essence, the true figure would be €120m.
Hence Barcelona are faced with the tough task of either executing a fire sale, or finding a way of persuading Orpheus Media and Socios.com to pay up before the end of August.
It is worth reminding here that there are reports of clauses in the contracts of Martinez and Gundogan that they can either leave on loan for free, or leave for free altogether if they are not registered.
So far only Cope have reported this information, and it remains to be seen how Barcelona will respond, or whether La Liga will indeed enforce the regulations as they say.
Should they be forced into mass sales or be unable registere their currenty signings, it threatens to torpedo Barcelona’s season before it gets started.
