Barcelona Activates Another Economic Lever Ahead of New La Liga Season

• Barcelona have been recently faced with financial troubles
• The La Liga champions recently sold some percentage of the club’s Barca studios
• The Catalan club have now triggered another lever ahead of the new La Liga season

Barcelona have received a timely financial boost ahead of the new La Liga season.

The club has so far struggled to register its players with La Liga ahead of the football season which commences in three days.

Despite the impending sales of Franck Kessie and Ousmane Dembele, it appears the club will be needing an extra financial buffer to be able to register a huge bulk of its squad.

Currently, Barcelona have only 13 registered players which is the second least number of players amongst the 20 La Liga teams and only ahead of Alaves who so far have 12 players registered.

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Looking to get their new signings and players' registrations sorted ahead of the season opener, President Joan Laporta has opted for a drastic resolve.

Barcelona activates economic lever

Spanish football outlet Mundo Deportivo reports that Barcelona previously sold two 24.5% stakes of their media arm for €100 million to Socios.com and Orpheus Media last summer, as part of their economic levers manoeuvring.

Each firm allegedly paid an initial €10 million, but they then both missed their respective set deadline of June 2023 and asked for a delay to hand over €30 million.

However, it appears the desperate measures required by Barcelona to have their finances in order have led them to make a bold decision. Recent reports per Football Espana, state Barcelona have now re-sold that stake to Mountain Nazca, a private equity fund manager, in a deal worth €180m.

Both Socios.com and Orpheus Media will be paid a share of this in order to give up their initial stakes purchased last summer, and it is believed that Barcelona will net a fee of €30m, which they can use towards fixing their financial situation.

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Barcelona still owe Messi wages

Sports Brief in another report stated Lionel Messi is still getting paid by Barcelona, despite the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner not having laced his boots for the Catalan giants since his departure in 2021.

The Argentina superstar was among the first players to agree to defer their salaries under Barcelona's previous president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, to ease the club's mounting financial difficulties.

According to Marca, Barcelona president, Joan Laporta has revealed that the La Liga champions still owe Messi outstanding payments, which are expected to end in 2025.