Barcelona are rich! Or are they? This is a question that has dominated and divided the footballing world in 2022. When Joan Laporta took over in 2021, the financial situation was a mess. Barcelona had debts of more than €1 billion.
They had to let go of club legend Lionel Messi. However, just a year on from that, the Blaugrana have signed Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski. The pair have cost in excess of €100 million.
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Moreover, they had also bought Ferran Torres for more than €50 million. Incredibly, that is still not all. Since January 2022, Barcelona have signed Eric Garcia, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Franck Kessie, and Andreas Christensen on free transfers.
The latter pair are yet to be officially registered, alongside Raphinha and Lewandowski. All of it will be done once the second economic lever is activated.
Indeed, these “economic levers” have dominated conversations inside the club, alongside their sponsorship deals. So, what are these new, creative ways that Barcelona are doing in order to become competitive again?
What are the economic levers?
A phrase that Laporta has continuously used for much of his presidency. The economic levers, in very simple terms, are using the club’s assets to get money. This was announced in a meeting with the club’s members earlier in 2022.
There are seven levers, of which three are known so far. The first involved selling 49.9% of Barca Licensing and Merchandising (BLM) company. The negotiations are underway, with the club expected to receive around around €300 million.
Barcelona are considering pulling the third lever (BLM + Barca Studios) to be able to register the new signings.
The second lever will be effective within next few days, allowing Barca to have the money for signing Raphinha and Lewandowski.
[MARCA] pic.twitter.com/7zIlZZKfC3
— Footy Accumulators (@FootyAccums) July 18, 2022
The second lever revolves around 25% of the club’s La Liga TV rights. Barcelona have already sold 15% for €207 million to Sixth Street Capital for 25 years. Additionally, they could sell another 10% but it remains to be seen whether that extreme option is taken.
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Finally, the third lever also centres around BLM and Barcelona Studios, which could rake in another €200 million approximately. Therefore, it is clear that…
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