Sports
Barcelona Gives Up Messi’s Star Power to Try Fixing Its Finances
- Goldman Sachs on board in effort to refinance club’s huge debt
- Lost jersey sales alone could cost Barca millions in revenue
Lionel Messi
Photographer: David Ramos/Getty Images
Widely regarded as the best player of his generation, Lionel Messi couldn’t make FC Barcelona’s balance sheet a winner. Here’s a look at what went wrong with the finances of one of Europe’s storied soccer teams.
Barcelona’s biggest problem continues to be its debt load. The club’s financial net debt at the end of March, when new management took over, was 673 million euros ($792 million). The adjusted provisional debt’s now above 1 billion euros, including the payment of players’ salaries deferred during the pandemic. The club is conducting an audit and the final figure could be higher.