Real Madrid forced to take out €130m loan to pay 'free agent' Mbappe

Tom Weber

Updated: 27 Jul 2024 16:04 BST
3 min read

Real Madrid had to borrow €130 million ahead of paying out the first salaries of the new season, according to Spanish media.

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It has been a massive few months at Real Madrid. After winning LaLiga and the Champions League, Los Blancos finally secured the signature of Kylian Mbappe after a two-year transfer saga.

Though the Frenchman has arrived on a free transfer, it is well known that he is anything but cheap. Additionally, Real Madrid have signed wonderkid Endrick from Palmeiras for a whopping €60m, while also having to finance the renovations of the Santiago Bernabeu.

In short, despite record revenues totalling more than €1 billion, Real Madrid have found themselves short on cash this summer, which led to them taking out a bank loan of €130m earlier this summer, according to Vozpopuli.

Mbappe salary and Bernabeu debt

Real Madrid remain absolutely calm about their financial situation as they expect revenues amounting to more than €100m per year from the renewed multi-purpose Santiago Bernabeu.

However, according to the report, seemingly citing official numbers, Real Madrid's treasury stood at just €82m shortly before the first batch of salaries was paid out for the upcoming 2024/25 season this summer.

This was the lowest amount of cash available to the club in 20 years due to big-money transfers and the onset of the paying off of the Bernabeu debt.

To remedy the situation, Florentino Perez and his associates had to resort to borrowing money to pay the hefty wages of Mbappe and others. But due to cost-cutting measures in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Madrid do not find themselves short on credit.

Real Madrid boosted their revenues by 27 per cent in 2023/24, which resulted in a profit of €15.6m. Though a minor sum in the grand scheme of things, the article points out that it was enough to further bump up the club's net worth, which is important to their attempts at maintaining a high credit rating.

Mbappe is set to earn as much as €130m over the course of his five-year contract, but Madrid are confident that the commercial boom of his arrival and the new opportunities presented by the renovated Bernabeu can keep them in a secure financial position.