Barcelona went into this summer with major hopes of being able to revamp their squad in a similar way to that of last season’s transfer window. Yet as July moves into its final third, the Blaugrana have expended just €3.4m to bring in just three players.
At the start of the window, there was plenty of talk that they needed €100m in sales, and of course that Lionel Messi could return. After the Argentine decided to head to Inter Miami, the bubble burst somewhat.
This does not mean to say that Oriol Romeu, Ilkay Gundogan and Inigo Martinez are not good signings; two will enforce good competition, while in Gundogan, the Blaugrana are bringing in one of the best midfielders in the world at the top of his game.
Yet they are still looking perilously short at right-back, and it appears Jules Kounde will be asked to cover there again. Their prospective back-up striker, Vitor Roque, will not arrive until January at the earliest unless there is a dramatic change of course.
The financial pressure is not only costing them on the pitch though. Barcelona are seeing that when they do business, it is on different terms to other teams. Following the exit of Antoine Griezmann for just €20m, and Samuel Umtiti for free, their upcoming sales look as if they will be affected too.
Sport say that Juventus target Franck Kessie will cost a minimum of €15m if they want to pry him from Barcelona, which is a fee that smacks of desperation. Value is obviously dictated by the market, but for a player that is a year removed from being a crucial part of the title-winning Milan side, at just 26 years of age, it seems rather on the low side.
La salida de Nico dejará unos 7-8M en caja, aunque aún se tratan algunos flecos y la cifra final puede bailar. Entre ellos, la opción de recompra, todavía no fijada.
Una opción podría ser escalarla: al término del primer año X y al término del segundo, una cifra mayor.
— Toni Juanmartí (@tjuanmarti) July 21, 2023
Meanwhile initially Nico Gonzalez’s impending move to Porto was reported to be worth €10m, but Toni Juanmarti reports that the final figure will in fact be closer to €7-8m. Similarly, at just 21 years of age, having had a decent first full campaign at the top level with Valencia, and broken into the Barcelona side initially, most similar profiles would command a greater fee.
Nico is by no means a prodigious talent, but still has the potential to be a Champions League-level player. Blessed with an imposing physique, decent technical ability and an ability to burst through midfield, Barcelona are set to receive a similar amount of money for a veteran midfielder in the lower half of the Premier League.
While clearly fees in England are inflated, with both Saudi Arabian and Premier League money flowing into the game, Barcelona appear unable to secure prices that look like any more than the minimum those players should cost.
Barcelona continue to work with the attraction of joining a side that is one of the biggest in the world, and competing the titles, which allows them to sign the likes of Gundogan and Roque on reduced terms. Yet the fact that Barcelona cannot demand more reasonable figures for their players is hampering them significantly. Damaging their ability to recruit, and slowing down their financial recovery, until Barcelona are no longer desperate for those fees, they will continue to pay an added price in every sale negotiation.
This is why a dungeon should be built under the renovated Camp Nou, for Bartomeu to spend the rest of his miserable life in.
His corruption will reverberate at the club for years.
One could easily spread the clubs debt over a longer period of time. Given football’s transfer market’s constant inflation and the club’s continuous increase of revenue, interest being paid for lent money will not surpass the return, because of the high return it is favourable to invest as much as possible in the future of the club, wheras a dropback from the status of top club would cause even more money loss. Pushing the club down does not serve anyone. When the going gets tough, you need to invest.
That’s exactly what Laporta has been doing, however FFP won’t allow clubs to use borrowed money to sign players. The formula is based on actual income, and funds acquired by borrowing (as well as future estimated profits, which Laporta has tried to include in the recent past) don’t count as income according to La Liga.