Barcelona players and an official (R)
Barcelona are racing against the clock to bring in around €70 million in player sales before the end of June to balance the club’s accounts, sources have told ESPN.
There is genuine concern among the club’s hierarchy that despite ongoing negotiations regarding a number of players, they will not be able to hit that target due to the complications generated by the coronavirus pandemic across football.
Arthur Melo, Ivan Rakitic and Arturo Vidal are three of the players Barca are open to moving on. However, all three have voiced a desire to remain at Camp Nou in recent weeks despite interest from elsewhere.
Junior Firpo, Samuel Umtiti and Nelson Semedo are among the other members of the squad the club hoped would generate money.
Barca predicted revenue for the 2019-20 campaign would top €1 billion for the first time in the club’s history. As part of that prediction, they accounted for €124m to arrive in the form of player transfers and/or loans ? although club sources have told ESPN that amount has been increased since the numbers were released last October.
Last August, Barca sold Malcom to Zenit Saint Petersburg for €40m but that is their only major sale so far. They have also recouped small amounts from the departures of Carles Perez, Abel Ruiz and Alejandro Marques, in addition to loan fees for Philippe Coutinho and Jean-Clair Todibo.
Therefore, they still need more sales before June 30, when the financial year ends, while there’s the added difficulty that the season is set to extend beyond that point. La Liga hopes to restart on June 11, with 11 games still to be played, and the Champions League looking to return in August.
Even without player sales, the €1bn revenue target will not be hit. The club’s vice president Jordi Cardoner told ESPN that the coronavirus crisis has already cost the club between €120 and €140m.
Barca have lost about €50m from ticket sales and the museum, €39m in TV income and between €20m and €25m in commercial income from shops, football schools, “legends’ activities” and so on.