Everything is going well on the pitch for FC Barcelona at the start of the season. The Catalan club has won its first seven days of La Liga and is already showing great momentum under the orders of Hansi Flick. With 12 goals in the league, Raphinha is particularly looming over the start of the year, while Barça also launched their Champions League campaign perfectly with a big victory (5-1) against Feyenoord. Enough to put a smile on the face of Catalan supporters and suggest that the club has definitively turned the page on its turbulent last years. However, behind this sporting success, a new alert reminds us that FC Barcelona’s problems are far from being resolved. The club’s debt continues to rise and could now reach a dizzying level.
Barça’s economic difficulties are obviously not new. For several years, the Catalan management has increased financial operations to find room for maneuver, with the sale of certain assets and part of the club’s future income. At the heart of this equation is above all Espai Barça, the gigantic project supposed to transform the Camp Nou and its infrastructure. The stadium has been under construction since May 2023 and the multiple delays have already seriously disrupted the life of the club. After two seasons spent at Montjuïc, then a gradual return to the Camp Nou from November 2025, Barça will still have to leave its enclosure during the 2027-2028 season in order to allow the installation of the roof. A new setback which will inevitably have economic consequences, even though the bill for the project has already exploded.
A new loan validated by members
This is precisely what is detailed The Athletic in a survey published this Tuesday. FC Barcelona has just obtained authorization to contract 510 million euros in additional debt, including 300 million intended to continue work on the Camp Nou and 210 million intended to cover operational needs. Espai Barça’s overall budget now reaches 1.8 billion euros, three times the amount initially approved in 2014. The problem is that these new investments arrive while the club is still suffering the financial consequences of construction delays. Barcelona management estimates in particular that it has already spent an additional 17 million euros in operating costs and 24 million in investments linked to this period, while being deprived of part of the revenue that a fully operational Camp Nou should have generated. And the situation could become even heavier for Catalan finances.
According to the calculations of The Athleticall of Barça’s loans could exceed 2.6 billion euros depending on the repayment deadlines. Part of this debt is directly linked to the financing of the new Camp Nou and must be repaid using future revenues generated by the stadium. But the additional 210 million euros are linked to the club’s cash flow needs and will be guaranteed by future television revenues. This operational debt is more worrying, because it does not directly finance an asset intended to produce new revenue. Barça has already paid 91 million euros in interest during the 2025-2026 season and the first tranche of 105 million euros of this new debt carries a fixed rate of 5.14%. Meanwhile, the Palau Blaugrana, whose cost was estimated at 420 million euros, is still not fully funded. Not to mention that 25% of LaLiga’s television revenues were sold to Sixth Street, a private equity firm. The Camp Nou should normally reach its full capacity for the 2028-2029 season, with 105,000 places, but the path to get there still promises to be particularly expensive.
