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Total damage of 7 to 8 billion euros!
The total damage to European football from the corona pandemic is gigantic. Hans-Joachim Watzke talks about problems that mainly concern larger clubs.
Borussia Dortmund plague sources of revenue that have broken down due to Corona. It’s just a good thing that an old one is bubbling again. FC Barcelona are paying a debt that was due from Dembélé’s transfer – not the last.
VA few days ago, Hans-Joachim Watzke complained about Borussia Dortmund’s suffering. Approved at the annual general meeting of club shareholders. Watzke was grateful that politics at least allowed ghost games. But he also outlined that every game without a spectator brings BVB four million less than would be the case at normal times. The forecast loss for this season alone: 70 to 75 million euros.
So it is a good thing that at least one old source of income has bubbled up again. According to a report by “Kicker”, FC Barcelona once again made sure that payment was received on the Dortmund business account. The Catalans, themselves extremely financially troubled by the Corona crisis, transferred another tranche for Ousmane Dembélé.
The former Dortmund offensive player was transferred to the Catalan club in the summer of 2017. 105 million euros were due at the time, and the transfer agreement also provided for some bonus payments. Like now the five million that could be booked by the Borussia.
Barcelona depress debts of around 820 million euros
One of the cornerstones of the contract between the two clubs is a payment of five million euros each for the 25th, 50th, 75th and 100th Dembélés competitive game. It had now become due again, the mark of 75th games had been exceeded, now he has 83 (22 goals, 17 assists). According to the report, Borussia Dortmund has already pocketed 130 million euros from the 23-year-old Frenchman. Due to various constellations and success factors, FC Barcelona is obliged to pay up to 148 million according to the contract at the time. Contracts and constructs like these are the ones that are bringing the club financially to its knees.
According to a “Spiegel” report, data from the disclosure platform Football Leaks revealed that Dembélé alone should receive an annual salary of twelve million euros, in the best case including bonus payments of over 20 million. Far from what Barcelona’s top earner Lionel Messi gets, who comes with a base salary of 71 million euros and, with all the absurdities of his contract, should cost the club just under 100 million euros per season. But enough to let the worry lines grow bigger in these times.
Barcelona have to save 190 million euros in the short term in order not to come to the brink of ruin by January. It depress debts of around 820 million euros. All in all, almost 300 million euros less have to burden the budget as quickly as possible, which is battered by salary costs of 636 million euros alone. The club’s leadership admitted a “highly worrying situation”. BVB boss Watzke is far from alone with his worries.
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