Barça managers have to put up money to sign up Gavi and Araujo

2023-06-26 11:00:01

BarcelonaEn l’off the record that Barça’s economic vice-president, Eduard Romeu, and the entity’s corporate director, Maribel Meléndez, officiated last Thursday with some journalists selected by the communication team, they admitted that the board of directors will have to present a guarantee to regularize the situation of some footballers in the eyes of the League.

The most urgent folder is that of Pablo Gavi, who has played most of this season with a youth card. Although the Andalusian renewed a few months ago with proper senior player conditions, his new contract has not been entered in the official records of the employer and, therefore, from July 1 he could leave free of transfer to one of the teams following him, such as Chelsea. The same goes for Ronald Araujo, another armored player but not yet regularized. Both prioritize staying at Barça, but they have offers on the table. Therefore, it’s not worth it.

Gavi and Araujo are essential for Xavi Hernández and the only way to fix their situation without depending on the whims of the market is for the managers to risk part of their personal wealth so that the League recognizes the club fair play financial generated through the departures of Jordi Alba, Gerard Piqué and Antoine Griezmann, whose contract still had an impact on the institution’s accounts from July.

The need forces the leadership led by Joan Laporta to compensate for a 6 million negative difference in the budget of the professional sections, which also counts in the calculation of the salary limit of the first football team. Barça promised the League an expenditure of 98 million (a reduction of 10 compared to the previous year) and has fallen halfway in saving: 104. To cover the hole, the board is negotiating a solution structured in 3 million in guarantee and 3 more in the form of a promissory note due on June 30, 2024, as advanced a few days ago by RAC1 and culemania.

In the meeting scheduled for this Wednesday at the offices of Arístides Maillol, the last before the 2022-23 financial closure, the managers will meet to approve a measure as peremptory as it is controversial. Peremptory because there is a commitment with Gavi and Araujo to resolve their issues before the start of the pre-season. And controversial because not all members of the dome are in favor of scratching their pockets (maintaining an endorsement costs money) to ensure the registration of players, as happened last summer with Jules Kounde, who made his debut in the League with Barça on the third day only when Laporta and treasurer Joan Olivé provided a personal guarantee of 11 million between the two.

Not all managers are clear on this

Managers who have doubts believe that this type of measures can become a habit considering the context of exceeded salary cap that the club all this summer. According to the ARA, one of these managers is Josep Maria Albert, who is even considering folding. It would be the second to do so in a few weeks after the resignation of Jordi Llauradó, who resigned as head of Espai Barça in January. Albert, who was the driving force behind the signing of Ferran Reverter as CEO, has been considering taking a step aside beyond this issue for months.

Although not all Barça managers have the same financial capacity to endorse, everything points to Laporta getting enough internal support to cover this need. However, the 6 million to compensate for the excess expenditure in the sections will only allow Gavi and Araujo and two more footballers to be signed up from a list made up of the also renewed Sergi Roberto, Marcos Alonso and Iñaki Peña and the recently signed – and not yet announced— Iñigo Martínez. Therefore, the sports management will have to prioritize to complete a first transfer and then will have to negotiate exits to generate more margin for those who have left and the other new faces, such as Ilkay Gündogan.