Mueez Ajao
– Barcelona president Joan Laporta has praised the club’s board for rescuing the Spanish giants from their “terminal” financial situation.
– Laporta, who returned as Barca president in November 2020, said they are “still working” to reduce the club’s debt and balance their books, but added that the club are in a much better position compared to when he arrived.
– “When we arrived over a year ago, the club was in a terminal [financial] situation,” Laporta told reporters. “We have restructured our debt, we have saved on financial costs, we have controlled our expenditure and we have increased our revenue.”
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– Laporta said in August that his board had inherited a debt of €1.35 billion, meaning Barca were unable to register a new contract for legend Lionel Messi, who joined Paris Saint-Germain as a free agent last summer.
– Barca financial vice-president Eduard Romeu said that the wage bill was €560 million, almost double that of Bayern Munich and €160m more than LaLiga rivals Real Madrid.
– The Catalan club will hold an assembly on June 16 looking to get authorisation on several financial moves to boost Barca’s economy.
– “If these financial operations are approved by our members, it will be good news for us,” Laporta said. “We will balance our books sooner than we expected.”
– Laporta said he was hopeful of extending the contract of young midfielder Gavi, whose deal due to expire in next summer.
– “We are optimistic,” Laporta said. “We obviously want Gavi to continue at Barca.”
– Gavi, 17, made 34 league appearances for Barca this past season and became Spain’s youngest goalscorer after netting against the Czech Republic in a 2-2 draw in the Nations League last weekend.
– “We are close to reaching an agreement,” Laporta said. “It’s more special for us because he [Gavi] comes from our youth ranks. We want Gavi to stay. The player and his agent want it too.”
– Meanwhile, winger Ousmane Dembele, who is a target of PSG and Chelsea, has not responded to a contract offer from Barca with his contract expiring this month.
– “Ousmane had a renewal offer from us and we have no news that he has accepted it,” Laporta said.
