The FC Barcelona board appears calm facing the next winter market. The club does not foresee any major movements and the only priority is to resolve the pending registrations of Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor. To do this, Barça needs to return to the 1/1 rule before the end of the year, a goal that has not yet been achieved despite the signing of the new contract with Nike.
Why is Barcelona still in trouble with financial Fair Play? The reason is complex, but understandable. Although the new link with the American multinational will leave income in the order of 120 million euros per year, the club had already foreseen this income in its sports planning, at least in relation to the renewal bonus (which will be 100 million euros). kilos').
In that sense, Barça will bring in close to €10M in 2024 from the signing with Nike, an insufficient figure to balance the club's accounts. The financial imbalance lies in the defaults derived from the sale of Barça Vision, the only 'lever' that Joan Laporta has not managed to close during the current mandate. "There were around 60 million euros missing, but we already had a few accredited and let's say there would be around €35M missing," explained the Barça president at the last members' meeting.
Barça's accounts to return to the 1/1 rule
What does Barça need to return once and for all to the 1/1 rule? First, enter the millions owed from unfulfilled payments by the Líbero investment fund (€20M are owed of the 60 'kilos' that the Germans promised to pay for 24.5% of Barça Vision). In addition, the shares corresponding to Orpheus media and Socios.com (the remaining 24.5%) are pending.
Adding the payments from Libero (€40M) and Amarak (€15M), there are 145 million euros of which the club owes for the sale of 49% of its audiovisual production company; the root of the culés' problems with the financial 'Fair Play'. The Barça team closed the 2023/24 financial year with total losses of 91 'kilos' and, beyond reducing its salary bill by €170M, it is still overstretched to sign and register players.
Hence, in order to resolve the pending operations in January, the club needs to find a new investor for the subsidiary Bridgeburg Invest S.L. (legal name of Barça Studios). Otherwise, it will depend on the sale of one or several players in January, a route that the club does not want to implement in the next market. In summer, the context will be totally different.