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In a bid to narrow down club debt, Barcelona is set to sell off some of its assets to recover from its financial mess.
Delegates for Barcelona football club approved the cession of up to 25% of income from the league’s TV rights for 25 years, as well as the sale of a minority share of its licensing and merchandising division.
Barcelona is estimated to earn around Є625million for the deals, helping turn around its Є501 million loss (after tax) during the 2020-21 season. The team is also redeveloping Camp Nou as part of a Є1.59 billion project. At one point, the team had nearly Є1.36 billion in debt.
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The majority of delegates representing fans (88%) voted in favour of selling a 49.95% share of Barcelona Licensing and Merchandising, while 87% of the delegates also voted for the TV rights deal which could go to one or move investors obtaining financing based on the rights.
Barcelona did not partake in LaLiga’s 2021 agreement with CVC Capital Partners, in which the firm invested Є2 billion for an 8.25% stake in the league’s media rights for 50 years.
“We want to recover this asset in 25 years,” Barcelona president Joan Laporta said. “The CVC deal presented was collective, but Barcelona have their special value.”
Barcelona’s outstanding debt stands in the region of €126million, according to the club’s financial report.
The most significant sum of Є29 million is owed to Liverpool for the record signing of Philippe Coutinho in 2018.
A sum of Є16.5m million is owed to Ajax for Frenkie de Jong, while Bordeaux are still waiting for Є9.4 million for Malcom.
Real Betis are owed Є9.4 million for Junior Firpo, while Gremio are still expecting Є8.2 million for Arthur.
Eibar are due Є2.3 million for the Blaugrana’s buy-back option exercised for Brighton star Marc Cucurella.
Villarreal, on the other hand, are still waiting on Є240,000 for Denis Suarez.
Valencia are owed Є7 million for Neto, while Juventus wait on Є3.5 million for Matheus Pereira and another Є4.7 million for Miralem Pjanic.
Braga are due Є9.4 million for Trincao, Atletico Mineiro are owed Є5.9 million for Emerson and Real Valladolid are waiting on Є249,334 on Jose Arnaiz.
Las Palmas are due Є1.1 million for Pedri, Albacete are waiting on Є2million for Rey Manaj and Palmeiras are owed Є4.6 million for Matheus Fernandes.
Sao Paulo are waiting on Є32,930 for Emerson, Bayern Munich are owed Є945,589 for Arturo Vidal and Deportivo La Coruna are due Є72,918 for Chumi.
Atletico Madrid are due the sum of £4m from preferential rights.
However, Barcelona are also owed Є45 million from other clubs, such as Є9.4 from Zenit Saint Petersburg for Malcom, Є6 million from Getafe for Cucurella and Є5.6 million from Juventus for Arthur.
Questions still arise regarding Barcelona’s ability to land major targets this summer, although the club just signed Brazilian forward Raphinha from Leeds United in a deal worth £55million.
They are also keeping tabs on other big names, such as Bayern superstar Robert Lewandowski as well as Chelsea duo Cesar Azpilicueta and Marcos Alonso.