FC Barcelona Debt Figure And Payroll Reduction Revealed By Economic VP

FC Barcelona’s Economic Vice President Eduard Romeo has revealed the club’s huge debt figure but claimed that it has been able to significantly reduce the amount it spends on salaries, as reported by COPE.

During an informal meeting with journalists on Wednesday, Romeo explained that Barca have not been able to reduce their structural debt, which means that Barca are still €1.35 billion euros ($1.48 billion) in the red without including the €1.5 billion ($1.64 billion) borrowed for the Espai Barca project involving the renovation of Camp Nou.

Romeo stressed that reducing the debt will only happen when “extraordinary income” arrives from the new stadium, which plans to hold concerts and other events beyond football.

“We have restructured the debt for up to ten years, [with] maximum prudence,” he stated, according to COPE.

Above all, Romeu wants the club to experience “recurring positive results without the use of levers” pulled last summer through the sale of future television rights revenue and selling stakes in Barca Studios.

Maintaining a positive outlook, Romeo aspires to return to “black numbers” in the books during the upcoming 2023-24 season.

The payroll is something immediately easier to reduce than the debt, however, and involves offloading players or getting existing stars to lower their salaries.

Romeo said that expected outgoings on salaries for the next financial year are €528 million ($578.2 million), which is down from €708 million ($775.4 million) when the board of current president Joan Laporta took over in spring 2021.

Of this €528 million, €51 million ($55.9 million) corresponds to players such as Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, Sergino Dest, Alex Collado and Gustavo Maia currently out on loan but set to return im the coming days.

As for those including Gavi and Ronald Araujo who are waiting for their new contracts to be registered, Romeo guaranteed that this can be done on July 1 and is “something that does not concern” the club.

Romeo also added that Laporta and Co. inherited €389 million ($426 million) in deferred salaries of which €70 million ($76.6 million) still has to be paid.