Barcelona’s financial condition could be far worse than previously thought, as it has been found that the club still owes money to three separate clubs.
Lionel Messi’s 21-year stay at the Camp Nou came to an end this summer when his contract expired and Barca was unable to renew it due to his high salaries.
Messi promised to take a 50% wage reduction to stay at his boyhood club, but La Liga rules prevented the deal from going through, and Barca couldn’t afford it.
Antoine Griezmann, the 2018 World Cup winner for France, was one of a slew of players released by Ronald Koeman’s side over the summer as he sought to cut costs.
However, Marca disclosed that the club will have to continue cutting costs because it still owes £98 million for signings made more than four years ago.
Barca owes Ajax £40.8 million for the signings of Frenkie de Jong (£27.2 million) and Sergino Dest (£13.6 million).
Despite signing Phillipe Coutinho in 2017, the La Liga club still owes Liverpool £11 million.
Coutinho has struggled since leaving Liverpool, and he was linked with a move this summer due to his high salary.
Barcelona must also pay £33.2 million to Serie A Juventus for Bosnian central midfielder Miralem Pjanic, who only appeared in six games last season.
The agreement was arranged as part of Juve’s signing of Arthur, but Barcelona has reaped little profit from it because Pjanic is already on loan at Besiktas despite a £340 million release clause in his contract, showing that the club had great expectations for him.
Ada Peter
