Barcelona: A Club in Crisis Soccer

[Dylan]

This thread is for the general discussion of the Soccer Barcelona: A Club in Crisis. Please add to the discussion here.

 

[Tom]

There is no way they can afford to keep Messi - if a new president managed to convince him to stay (unlikely), without him taking a 75%+ pay cut (highly unlikely) Barcelona will be financially handicapped further.

The reality is that they will probably need to sell one of their stars (Fati, Pedri, maybe De Jong) for upwards of 100M (and who knows when that will be possible) to achieve a financial reset.

Ultimately cash is king, and Barcelona are in danger of running out of cash!

 

[Snoops]

The caveat is the candidate who openly states he will offload Messi probably won't get elected. So it's a game of smoke and mirrors, even from Bartomeu, saying their greatest ever player is unsellable, until after the election when reality, aka finances, hits home.

They need money, lots of money, yesterday.

 

[David76]

You're right about the smoke and mirrors around Messi, reality is that they cannot afford more than about 20% of his current package.

Unclear though is how much of their (pre-covid) 1bn revenue estimates are directly linked to Messi, and how much the loss of the "Messi factor" will impact their income too.

What is clear is that the club needs a fundamental reset, the exit of Messi, Pique and Busquets and the blooding of this new wave of talent. Two years of that will allow them see if they are really good enough, whilst saving on transfers and the high wages of the ageing stars meaning the financial coffers can be somewhat replenished

 

[Random Guy]

I read an article a few weeks back that pretty much implied about half their income was based around Messi. They really don't have any other marketable players (maybe Fati in a couple of years) so whilst Messi's salary is undoubtedly vulgar, it may not actually be bad value, as crazy as it seems.

 

[Crabtree]

Barcelona cannot register any new signings, not Memphis Depay, Sergio Agüero and Eric García, after exceeding the La Liga salary limit.

Despite selling Konrad de la Fuente, Jean-Clair Todibo, and Junior Firpo, Barcelona need to reduce their wage bill by €200,000.

No Barcelona player wants to take a salary cut, and no one wants to leave. They're in serious trouble

 

[Boot Cleaner]

Barcelona are in some serious trouble there.

Wonder will many of the super rich clubs try and poach some players like Ter Stegen, De Jong or Dest on the cheap? Coutinho a potential bargain too if a club can take his wages.

 

[Crabtree]

Lionel Messi has agreed a new 5 year deal at Barcelona. It will see him take a whopping 50% pay-cut in order to help the club balance the books