It is necessary to give an image of solidity to the football world; convey security to investors who, for example, have to pay for Espai Barça in the coming years. And it doesn’t matter that the measure to comply with the budget approved by the partners involves a small bite in the entity’s assets. The time has come to activate the first economic lever after the assembly approved it in an extraordinary session just eleven days ago. The margin is over.
Right now, the only recipe for dribbling losses for the third season in a row is the transfer of 10% of television revenue for League matches for up to 25 years. This financial operation with one or more investment funds will involve the direct entry of between 200 and 220 million in the form of extraordinary income (orequity, as President Laporta likes to say). The nuance is important, because from the economic area it was ruled out to raise the debt ceiling again. In addition, at the audit level, the money must be calculated in such a way that it goes to the revenue item, which was almost 150 million below what was stated in the plans of the directive (765).
As for the supplier or suppliers of this lever, there is absolute secrecy both at the Camp Nou and in the financial environment of Barcelona. The club is convinced that the agreement will be announced at the beginning of the week without pomp, but the identity of the investors who will take part in this first sale is kept. What ARA has been able to confirm is that Bank of America, which recently ruled out becoming Sabadell’s first shareholder, will not enter this first operation despite having tried. The already famous CVC fund will not participate either, neither within the framework of LaLiga Impulso nor separately with certain conditions. to this for Barça. The path of Goldman Sachs, the institution’s main creditor, has also lost strength in recent days. However, the American investment bank accepts that the club does business with television rights that it already has pledged with it.
Pressure for Dembélé
The expectation before the activation of the first lever is also transmitted from the sports area, where they know that the economic health of the entity (and the first step to recover the working capital) will send to the time to make any market move. They are also aware that more asset sales will be needed to be able to operate normally, without the slab of the fair play exceeded. However, Xavi Hernández and the other professionals with a voice in planning need to know what decisions they can make when they have room.
In this sense, they demand a definitive solution to the Dembélé case this week, basically because if the Frenchman continues (as everything points) efforts will be able to concentrate on strengthening other positions. There is also a desire to close Frenkie de Jong’s portfolio and his departure to Manchester United. The transfer will be a precious source of salary space and will leave a capital gain that, if it arrives before this Thursday, could accelerate the arrival of a new midfielder in the squad.
