2023-06-15 08:00:26
BarcelonaThe closing of Barça’s financial years (June 30) has been moving in recent years, since the time of Josep Maria Bartomeu. The ex-Barcelona president, to settle accounts, took part in market operations under the euphemism of “economic engineering”. Hence the sportingly strange exchanges, but which accounted for an oxygen balloon like the operation with Arthur Melo-Pjanic’s Juventus (June 29, 2020), for which the Italian club is being investigated, or with the Valencia de Cilessen-Neto (June 26, 2019). With the impact of the pandemic and the change of board, Joan Laporta chose to load the losses in his first half year of mandate, in a risky operation and, last summer, the club increased income with a lever. The first was activated on June 30, 2022 and consisted of the sale of 10% of the television rights over the next 25 years to the investment fund Sixth Street in exchange for 207.5 million euros that served to save the budget
After Javier Tebas’ change in regulations in the middle of the season, which restricts the benefits of activating more levers, Barça now relies part of its fortune on the sale of footballers. The most valuable assets are players trained in the squad or who have reached zero cost. In other words: footballers who are already paid off. This is where Ansu Fati enters the scene. Economic emergencies turn the heir to number 10 into an asset that heads the list of transferables. Saving the differences, although they maintain many points in common, the Hispanoguinean will be invited to leave in the same way as they tried last summer with Frenkie de Jong, when Manchester United were willing to pay more than 80 million euros (between fixed and variable) for the Dutch. In the case of De Jong, it was mainly also because of a question of fair play because the ex-Ajax player, renewed with deferrals in October 2020, has one of the highest and most generous fees.
“We are aware that Frenkie is a great player, but there are footballers in the house who can fill his role [Gavi] and selling him would greatly help the financial needs of the club”, justified the sports management at the time. Keeping De Jong has a cost to the club of approximately 40 million euros and transferring him meant freeing up about 20 million from the mass salary. But the midfielder, under contract until 2026, had the pan by the handle and wanted to stay at all despite the club passing on United’s offer and pressuring him to leave. A year later, De Jong has become a huge asset for Xavi, starting 37 of the 46 matches in which he has been available.
The figures that explain the sale of Ansu
Quite different is the situation of Ansu Fati, who has never managed to be a regular starter. The attacker has only started in 14 of the 52 games in which he was with the team. Of course, with far fewer minutes than Raphinha (2,924 to 1,824) he has managed, with ten goals, to match the Brazilian as the second top scorer only behind Robert Lewandowski (33). Although his last goals have come in games in which Barça were no longer playing for anything, they serve Ansu to show that he maintains his idyll in front of goal. His representative, super agent Jorge Mendes, considers him a “phenomenon” and a “future Ballon d’Or”. A message with airs of revaluation of a footballer for whom he has the task of president Joan Laporta to find a market for him.
Despite the fact that he is only 20 years old and the internal doubts raised by his sale in the club’s offices, the transfer of Ansu is explained because, with Barça conditioned by the 40% rule (it cannot apply the 1: 1 because it is still exceeded by more than 200 million euros in wage bill), 20% of its sale and 40% of its salary savings (which is approximately 10 million euros gross) would serve to generate salary space. On the other hand, the margin is smaller and, therefore, a much higher transfer amount must be entered, if you transfer a footballer who was signed with a checkbook and pending repayment such as Raphinha or Ferran Torres, who are also on the transferable list. The first, because he maintains a good poster in the Premier League and because of the ethical conflict it poses for Deco, who already works despite not being officially announced in the position. The Valencia winger has less of a poster, but his transfer is also conditioned, as ARA advanced, by the variables that Barça agreed with City in the winter of 2021.
All this opens the exit doors for Ansu Fati, who wants to stay and who continues to have the approval of Mateu Alemany, but not with the indisputable endorsement of Xavi. “He’s coming out of a difficult situation because of the injuries, but he has to have continuity and I can’t guarantee that. This is Barça, not an NGO,” said the coach at the beginning of June. But Xavi will not rule out players until he knows how he can be strengthened. “We are waiting for the general photo of the fair play“, they say to Ciutat Esportiva. In this sense, they trust that in a week they will be able to have more certainty in this aspect. But to generate fair play players need to be sold. Meanwhile, Ansu continues to appear in some promotional events of the club linked to the next season.
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