Barca receive financial boost as they continue to chase Messi deal
Robin Bairner
- 29 Jul 2021 09:45 BST
- 5 min read
Barcelona have received a much-needed financial boost as they continue to seek a solution to their Lionel Messi problem.
Messi is presently a free agent, with his contract having expired on 30 June. While he has agreed a deal to re-sign with the club, Barca must drastically cut their wage budget in order for the six-time Ballon d’Or winner to be registered with the league.
This has proven problematic, with Barcelona having run down several dead ends. They have appealed to the league for a lenient attitude to be taken towards their wage cap and have offered the likes of Miralem Pjanic and Samuel Umtiti the opportunity to leave the club on a free transfer.
Furthermore, they have even attempted to offload record signing Antoine Griezmann to Atletico Madrid, although the plug was pulled on that idea as the board felt they were not getting value for money from the deal.
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However, there has been some positive movement for Barcelona financially in recent times.
On Wednesday, the club announced that it had the confidence of credit rating agencies.
In a statement, it said: “The sporting and financial project of the new FC Barcelona board of directors has received a vote of confidence in receiving a stable triple B negative credit rating from the credit rating agency Fitch.
“The credit rating agency gives a triple B rating to companies that are satisfactory at the time of rating, just as has happened to FC Barcelona after their assessment.
“With this BBB stable negative rating the Fitch agency values positively the Club's financial project, which will have to undergo important readjustments to balance books.”
What does this mean?
Although this is not an immediate solution to Barcelona’s Messi headache, it is important for showing investors that the club is on a stable footing currently and has a viable plan for getting out of its mountain of debt.
Barca have agreed to consolidate much of their debt, which stands at over €1 billion, with US investment fund Goldman Sachs. This firm is willing to put around €500m into the club, which the Catalans will pay back over a prolonged period.
These terms were quoted as being “much better than any bank could offer”.
Barcelona’s accounts may still make for ugly reading, but the situation is far from irreversible – and that must give them hope that Messi’s contract is not beyond them.
