Barcelona to beat Man Utd to Qatar deal? GAME-CHANGING update

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 22 Jun 2023 11:01 BST
• 4 min read

Barcelona’s summer transfer window could be unlocked by a deal with Qatar that could see the Camp Nou side flooded with money, while Manchester United’s takeover by Sheikh Jassim from the Gulf state continues to stall.

Barca have been frustrated in the early weeks of the summer transfer window because of the Financial Fair Play restraints surrounding their spending.

Lionel Messi was unwilling to wait for the club to raise the type of capital required to sign him and moved to Inter Miami. FootballTransfers exclusively revealed that Ilkay Gundogan has given the Catalan side a deadline by which to have sorted their issues before he considers other options, despite having agreed a contract with Barcelona.

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LaLiga’s champions are set to turn to Qatar for help, with president Joan Laporta having been on a fact-finding mission to the country recently that promises to transform their fortunes.

According to Mundo Deportivo, Qatari businessmen have proposed the idea of an FC Barcelona team in the Qatar Stars League, which would effectively be a franchise of the main club. The idea would be, thereafter, to attract another top European club to send a similar franchise team out there.

Tuttosport has previously revealed that Juventus have eyed a similar deal with Saudi Arabia and there has even been a suggestion that a Super League could be created in the Gulf if it were to be sanctioned by UEFA.

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Mundo Deportivo stresses, however, that this is a very different proposal. It would more closely resemble the type of multi-club model that Manchester City have built through the City Group, pointing out New York City FC as the prime example of their expansion.

Although this is a proposal still in its early stages, it could provide a huge economic injection for Barcelona.

Qatar’s proposal comes in response to the Saudi Pro League’s recent increase in activity, with Karim Benzema and N’Golo Kante joining Cristiano Ronaldo in the big-spending division. The two countries are bitter rivals.

Man Utd’s Qatari takeover

Such a deal is unlikely to implicate Manchester United’s potential takeover by Sheikh Jassim, who is funding that buyout individually.

The businessman has made five bids for Manchester United, with the deal stalling because of the Glazer brothers, the club’s current owners, dragging their feet and making huge demands in terms of their payout. The takeover had been expected to be completed early in 2023 but the process has now dragged more than six months.

The situation is one that has frustrated fans, manager Erik ten Hag and, apparently, Sheikh Jassim himself, with the Qatari having previously given the Glazers an ultimatum over a date the takeover had to be completed by.