At a time when Barça is trying to consolidate its finances, there are no small savings, and Joan Laporta understands this well. “We have a debt of 1.3 billion euros”, revealed its economic vice-president, Eduard Romeu, in February 2022, before embarking on apothecary accounts that only an investment banker from Rothschild would be able to seize. Last summer, Barça, however, praised its so-called financial results “record” for the 2022-2023 financial year, presenting “figures higher than expected”. So no, the club’s debt did not suddenly vaporize, it was just significantly reduced. Via a press release, the club reported liabilities of 552 million euros, without taking into account all loans linked to the financing of Espai Barça.
To pay off this debt, which therefore remains colossal, Barça has since initiated a whole bunch of maneuvers as ingenious as each other, sometimes known under the name of “economic levers”. In short: financial actions undertaken in order to alleviate the restrictions linked to the club’s debt situation. To achieve its goals, Barça notably had to reduce its payroll, estimated at more than €500 million a year and a half ago, which then represented more than half of the club’s budget. In addition to Lionel Messi, who left in the summer of 2021, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, Gerard Piqué, Antoine Griezmann and Ousmane Dembélé have also packed their bags in the space of a few months. Other actions, such as the sponsorship agreement worth €280 million with Spotify, the sales of future TV rights (25%) of La Liga for the next 25 seasons, or those of Barça Vision, a platform innovative technologies including NFT and Metaverse, have also been undertaken.
No more taxis for the Masia
No need to be an Egyptologist to decipher the situation: Barça must limit its spending as much as possible. The club has therefore significantly reduced its size in recent months, but has had to make collateral victims, like its illustrious training center, the Masia. Lately, the Catalan daily newspapers Sport And Mundo Deportivo revealed that the decision-makers had thus decided to eliminate taxi services for the training center. A measure still taken as part of this budget reduction, but which would have impacted no less than 80 players. For 25 years, a fleet of around 30 vehicles has crisscrossed the four Catalan provinces to allow young people not residing in the Masia to return home, then to go to school in the morning.
Called to comment on this information, the club put forward economic reasons, without going into further detail. Obviously, this decision caused a lot of tension among the parents of players, who were also affected in their schedules. Barça then provided a bus service with collection points located throughout the region, but still requiring families to travel on their own to drop off their children there. Logistics which could also lead certain families to change clubs, as confided Mundo Deportivo.
No more breakfast for young people, broken agreements with regional clubs
In other proportions, it is on the nutritional level that Barça had to cut the taps. In August, the media Relevo thus revealed the new resolution taken by the upper echelons of the club: that of food rationing. Given the economic situation and the number of players preferring to go home at lunchtime, Barça has ended its collaboration with the external catering company. A controversial decision, but for some club sources it was simply a matter of “unjustified expenses”. Until now, players had always had the opportunity to eat at the club. They will now no longer have a choice.
In recent days, it is through a new, equally ludicrous measure that the club has come to light: that of putting an end to its partnerships with clubs in the region. Historically, Barça had always maintained close ties with its little brothers in order to support the training of regional youth, but above all, to obtain control over the biggest talents. The Catalan clubs of Jàbac Terrassa or Atlètic Sant Just, which were thus paid a financial amount each year by Barça, will now have to draw a line under it. Sums which, until now, represented a considerable part of club budgets. Relevo specifies that the other major Catalan club, Espanyol Barcelona, could replace Barça.
