Lewandowski Barcelona transfer on after €840m finance deals

FT Desk

• 1 Jun 2022 10:58 BST
• 3 min read

Barcelona could be set to avoid financial meltdown with a plan to raise €840 million through the sales of licensing, merchandising and TV rights, making transfer activity this summer possible.

Barcelona have been heavily linked with a summer move for Bayern Munich's Polish goal-machine Robert Lewandowski, but with a transfer fee in the region of €30-40m, the move looked in danger.

But the board of directors will call an Extraordinary Assembly of Delegates for Thursday 16 June in which they will seek permission to raise €300m from Barca Licensing & Merchandising SL (BLM) and €540m from television rights, according to Spanish newspaper Sport.

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The board will seek permission to sell 49.9 per cent of BLM, which was founded by former president Josep Maria Bartomeu to maximise the club's image rights. The board hope this deal is completed by 30 June.

In order to deliver to the squad coach Xavi would like to have, Barca will also look to sell up to 25 per cent of their La Liga TV rights, with a loan of €270m at zero per cent interest with CVC Capital partners facilitating the deal. CVC will receive 8.2 per cent of operating profits for the next 50 years in return.

As well as the CVC loan, Barcelona have also negotiated with Goldman Sachs that they contribute a further €270m that will be calculated as both income and debt.

Sport report that those twin pillars, alongside the 49 per cent sale of Barca Studios, mean that Barcelona will be able to sign players this summer. Barca will be able to invest €40m despite already exceeding their salary limit – so Lewandowski could perhaps turn out at the Camp Nou sooner rather than later.

Barcelona were over €1bn debt after some horrific financial planning in recent years. After losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for a world record €222m in 2017, they spent €145m on Philippe Coutinho, €120m on Antoine Griezmann and €105m rising to €145m on Ousmane Dembele over the next years.

The outlay meant they were unable to extend Lionel Messi's contract last summer, with the club legend following Neymar to PSG on a free. Club vice captain Gerard Pique was among those who either reduced or outright postponed their salaries, meanwhile.

Barcelona remain the most valuable brand in world football according to a recent report by Forbes, who pegged the Catalan club's worth at $4.76 billion (€4.53bn), even before the aforementioned rights sales.