Barca released their annual financial report last Monday, January 25, and the figures are quite worrying when it comes to the amount of debt the club currently finds itself in. The debt is not only due to the Coronavirus pandemic, but it is really important to note that a great part of this debt is due to the mismanagement of Bartomeu and his board which left the club a couple of months ago. Currently, Barca are €1.2 billion in debt ($1.456 billion), this is crazy, certainly unbelievable. After reading the financial report, it is incredible how the club spends its money.
FCB is known for being one of the clubs with the highest wage bill. Many fans have said season upon season that the wage bill is unsustainable, and now it is confirmed. It was released to the public that 74% of FCB’s income goes to paying player’s salaries. Basically, the last board was handing out huge salaries as if they were candy. This explains why last summer Barca got rid of great players like Suarez, Vidal, and Rakitic, pretty much for free. This also explains the huge wage cut earlier this season in which all the players were basically forced to reduce their salaries due to the financial situation.
Also in the financial report, one can notice that there are significant sums of money that FCB owes to other clubs from many high-profile signings made by Bartomeu. To start, €29 million are still owed to Liverpool for Philippe Coutinho. Then, there is almost €10 million owed to Ajax for the signing of Frenkie De Jong, and also €10 million to Atletico de Madrid for the signing of Antoine Griezmann. This situation gets worse, Barca owes money to other clubs for players that don’t even play for the club anymore! €10 million are owed to Bordeaux for the signing of Malom, who, to be honest, I don’t even know where he is currently playing. There is also money owed to Gremio, for Arthur, who was transferred to Juventus this season, and money owed to Bayern for Arturo Vidal (now at Inter).
It is important to note that 70% of Barca’s debt is short-term debt, which means most of it has to be paid before June. The club has been managed horribly in the past few years and honestly, it is infuriating to watch. Barcelona is one of, if not the, biggest clubs in the world, and for it to be owing that amount of money, with the amount of income it gets, it’s staggering. Bartomeu should be ashamed of how he directed the club, he has driven our club to the ground. Overall, it is sad and concerning watching FC Barcelona crumble apart.
