2023-05-04 20:15:55
MadridMateu Alemany and Ferran Oliver had lunch last week in Madrid with leaders of the League. The director of football and the treasurer of Barça spoke about the club’s sports planning for next season, in which the main problem will once again be the salary cap. The conversation lasted an hour and twenty minutes. But contrary to what everyone might think, Leo Messi’s name did not appear at any time.
For months now, the club has been nurturing the possibility of the Argentinian forward returning to Barça. A wish led by president Joan Laporta, who still feels responsible for his farewell and believes that the only way to close the wound is to get Messi to wear the Blaugrana jersey again.
But one thing is the president’s wish and another, quite different, is the road map that exists in the sports dome, where the “big priority” is the registration of Gavi and Araujo to prevent them from leaving this summer. In fact, this was one of the topics that Alemany and Oliver discussed at the lunch with the League, in which Javier Gómez, the executive in charge of financial control, was present as an interlocutor for the employer. Even if Mateu Alemany leaves Barça this summer, this will not alter the order of the performances. “First there is Gavi and Araujo; then, register the other renewals, and finally, the signings”, point out sources from the League following the conversations they have had with the club.
Tebas admits that he “would like” to see Messi again at Barça
The League does not hide that the return of Messi would be good news. Even its president, Javier Tebas, admitted in a personal capacity this Thursday, during the presentation of the economic report of the competition, that “he would like” the Argentine to play for Barça. The problem is that the club continues to exceed, in terms of fair play, and he would have to get a capital save to make the team for him. The employers know that nothing is impossible, in the same way that it also seemed unthinkable to them that Lewandowski ended up signing, last summer. But after tweaking the regulations to prevent extraordinary income (the “leverage”) from being used in its entirety to sign, they see with great skepticism a last dance of the striker from Rosario to Barcelona. In addition, the Barcelona club is committed to ending this season with a profit of 250 million, in order to compensate for the losses of previous years. And if he doesn’t meet that goal, the League will further lower his salary cap.
Meanwhile, sources at the club dare to assure that there is already a verbal agreement between the president and the footballer for two years and a salary slightly higher than 25 million euros, to make him the best paid player in the squad , just above Lewandowski. An agreement that will be a reality if they can make room for the wage bill. The League assures that they have no evidence of this and remember that this hypothetical new contract will have to be approved by the independent validation body. In addition, if the contract is growing, there cannot be a salary difference of more than 25% between the first season and the second. A clause that applies to avoid cheating in financial control.
The League asks Barça to prove its viability two years from now
In April, Barça, like all clubs, had to present to the League a budget for the coming season in order to calculate the salary cap. The report envisages a drastic reduction in expenses and the sale of footballers with the aim of reaching the 1 to 1 standard. In other words, to stop being exceeded and to be able to allocate all the income to signings. However, additionally, and since Barça activated the levers, the employer has also required an additional viability plan for the 2024-25 season.
In this document you will have to present the forecast of income and expenses for the next two seasons. The objective, according to the management, is for the club to demonstrate that it can bear the cost of new long-term signings. Conversely, if it reaches the end of the 2024-25 season and has breached the established parameters by more than 10% (for example, that the debt is higher than what was committed), the club will be automatically penalized and would stay a year without being able to enroll anyone. This is a modification of the economic control (Article 78 bis) to prevent unrealistic future plans from being presented to bypass the regulations of the fair play. This change was approved at the club assembly in November and is pending approval by the Superior Sports Council (CSD), which will give the final approval before the end of May.
Although the League did not want to give specific figures, the sources consulted by this newspaper say that Barça must cut costs between 230 and 250 million to reach the 1 to 1 norm. “The paper holds everything, but this declaration of intent will only be credible when Barça materializes this savings”, point out from the employers. In the meantime, the club will have to be governed by the regulations that affect surplus clubs, which allows a maximum of 40% of the money saved in salary to be invested with the departure of a footballer. Additionally, you can allocate 20% of the profits from the sale (price less depreciation) to strengthen yourself.
#Skepticism #League #return #Leo #Messi #Barça #fair #play