Barcelona financial mess worse than previously imagined

Joan Laporta met the media in an effort to explain why Barcelona was unable to re-sign Lionel Messi, the best player in club history.

He laid the majority of the blame on the club needing to meet Financial Fair Play rules as well as the salary parameters laid out by LaLiga.

More from Everything Barca

• FC Barcelona tracking Belgian Wonderkid
• FC Barcelona vs Betis Player Ratings
• Barça boss Xavi to get contract extension
• FC Barcelona planning swoop for Arsenal midfielder
• Barcelona interested in €30 million wonderkid

Barcelona’s problems stretch much further than failing to re-sign Lionel Messi

During his hour-plus press conference, he also mentioned the abysmal tenure of the previous boards led by Sandro Rosell and Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The debt they saddled Barcelona with was more than what Laporta and the new board expected.

"“The expected losses were somewhere to the order of €200 million, but finally they will be €487 million,” Laporta said. “It’s a lot.”Source: Sport"

According to Laporta, they expect losses for last season — not this season — to be nearly half a billion euros.

The astonishing amount they expect to report is ludicrous even taking into consideration the financial damage caused by the pandemic.

Barcelona find themselves in a more precarious situation than first realized. The need to stop the boat from sinking certainly played a role in being unable to re-sign Messi. His departure is set to also have implications in what they are able to bring going forward in terms of sponsors.

To make matters worse, it’s also called into question as to whether or not they’ll be able to register any of the signings they’ve made this offseason. Laporta “hopes” they can and is basing his hope on their calculations.

Despite Messi leaving and avoiding having to pay his wages, the situation remains dire. The Catalans still need to sell players and convince the rest to accept a wage cut.

Without Messi, wages make up 95% of Barcelona’s revenue which is completely unsustainable. Laporta knew he was inheriting a mess. Perhaps he was not aware of the full case. In any case, it looks like this will be an issue that will take more than just one season to fix.