Barcelona suffer enormous €481MILLION loss for last season with their revenue down by 26% and expenses hitting a record €1.14BILLION – as the financial turmoil at the Spanish giants is laid bare
- The dire financial position Barcelona find themselves in has been revealed
- The club revealed that they lost more than £409m in the 2020-21 campaign
- The LaLiga giants’ expenses rose by 19 per cent from €955m to €1.14billion
The dire financial position Barcelona find themselves in has been revealed with the club recording a €481million loss for last season.
It’s no secret that the Catalan giants have been majorly struggling amid the coronavirus pandemic but the full extent of their problems has been disclosed.
The club revealed that they lost more than £409m in the 2020-21 campaign after revenue decreased and expenses went up.
Barcelona suffered a €481million loss for last season with their revenue down by 26 per cent
Barcelona president Joan Laporta (R) also saw his club post €451m worth of debt by June
The LaLiga outfit’s revenue dropped by 26 per cent with just €631m compared to €855m the season before as fans were shut out from games with the stadium unable to open, given the Covid crisis.
Barcelona are reliant on football tourism, with stadium tours a big money-spinner and revenue has subsequently plummeted at the Nou Camp with that severely restricted.
While the club’s expenses rose by 19 per cent from €955m to €1.14billion despite making savings through players agreeing to take pay cuts.
As a result the club posted €451m worth of debt by June while debts in recent seasons are believed to have already totalled more than £1.1bn.
Barcelona’s salary cap limit was slashed just last week by £246m to £85m. In the 2018-19 season the Catalan side had a salary cap of €671m (£580m), which was slashed to €382.7m (£331m), a fall of €288.3m (£249m).
But a further squeeze on Barcelona’s finances, exacerbated by the pandemic but due to unsustainable wage to turnover ratios, has seen that figure now fall to the £85m they have this season.
Things are dire on the pitch as well with manager Ronald Koeman under increasing pressure
Club president Joan Laporta explained earlier in the summer to reporters that Barca’s wage bill with six-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi on the books would equal 110 per cent of their income.
Even when Messi – Barca could not afford to keep hold of their greatest ever player – departed for the Parc des Princes, the salary bill remained at an untenable 95 per cent.
Antoine Griezmann was sent back to Atletico Madrid, Messi left for PSG and Miralem Pjanic was loaned out to Besiktas.
Barcelona’s financial turmoil was exposed during the summer when arrivals Memphis Depay, Emerson, Sergio Aguero and Eric Garcia were overshadowed by the fact the club were unable to register them without exceeding their salary cap.
Not until big earners were moved on were Barcelona able to register their new signings with LaLiga.
Ronald Koeman’s side are also struggling on the pitch with the Dutchman under increasing pressure after just three league wins from their opening seven matches and a 3-0 thrashing by Benfica in the Champions League.