Barcelona can breathe a little easier following the Extraordinary General Assembly as the members of the club voted and ratified a pair of economic levers.
The socis agreed to a 49.9%minority sale of Barça Merchandising and Licensing (BLM) as well as the “the approval to cede up to 25% of the income from the Liga TV rights to one or more investors and/or obtain financing based on the aforementioned TV rights.”
The club expect to receive around €600 million from both operations.
The approval of both operations was important in terms of what the club hopes to achieve during the offseason. The squad has been in a desperate need of a revamp but their financial situation has continually hampered them.
According to ESPN, the club is working on the departure of 10 or more players.
Exits mean arrivals and now with some flexibility to spend in the market, Barcelona are sure to step up their pursuit in a number of players. Two notables are Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde.
https://twitter.com/ManagingBarca/status/1537801848786079747
The Polish striker has been clear he wants out of Bayern Munich and has prioritized a move to the Catalan side.
Xavi wants to reinforce the defense and has chosen Sevilla’s Jules Kounde as his preferred choice. The French center-back has been linked with Chelsea since last season and have reached an agreement on personal terms. Barcelona have stepped in late and are negotiating with Sevilla on a deal.
The operations also have an impact on the club’s need to sell players. Before, in order for Barcelona to even think about signing a player, they needed to sell. That no longer appears to be the case. It also means the future of Frenkie de Jong is still up in the air. His sale is no longer needed to square the numbers. If he does leave, it will be for sporting reasons.
Romeu: "We don't depend on De Jong to square the numbers."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 17, 2022
It also gives them leeway in terms of the wage bill which means they should be able to announce the signings of free agents Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie.
The club, however, needs to be diligent in the transfer market. The last thing they want is to repeat the mistake made when they lost Neymar to PSG. They used the money to sign Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele. With one gone and the other as good as gone, it’s fair to say those were bad signings.
Getting these economic levers approved is a significant first step into getting Barcelona out of the financial mess they find themselves in. But it’s only one step. With a new board and the experience of Mateu Alemany, supporters hope they’ve learned their lesson.