The club made a last-ditch bid to sign players on an emergency loan with the intention of trying to convince them not to go back. The two clubs have been in talks for months, but despite Barcelona having doubts about the deal they cannot afford without it and other bids that are close by.,
Barcelona has signed Ferran Torres, but his debut is unclear as the club tries to creatively work around debt. Barcelona are looking for a way to make money on the transfer market by selling players and signing free transfers. Read more in detail here: epl.
3:48 p.m.
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Sid Lowe is a writer from Spain.
“We’ve returned!”
Joan Laporta was in a bullish mood, as he is most days, but particularly on days like these. It was a sunny morning in the city, and it was the first day of the rest of their lives. There were 13,513 individuals in the Camp Nou stands, full of hope. The Barcelona president, who had begun singing when he was last down there introducing Dani Alves and Xavi Hernandez, was grinning and ready to take on the world on the field below them. So he claimed.
This was a significant event. Ferran Torres had just joined Barcelona for €55 million with €10 million in add-ons. He’d arrived from Manchester City, no less, at the age of 21 and long regarded as the country’s best player in his age group. Torres, who is expected to captain Spain’s front line for the next decade, has already scored 12 international goals, including a hat-trick against Germany, at a pace of one goal every other game, according to some. His remuneration is said to be designed to be in the range of €12.5 million per year.
It wasn’t Laporta’s first major signing in his second term at the club, but it certainly seemed like it. It wouldn’t be the last, either.
At least, that’s what Laporta stated.
– LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, and more on ESPN+ – Torres completes his transfer to Barcelona from Manchester City. – Torres receives a B+ for his transfer to Barcelona.
If Torres’ coming signaled a change, a signing they could legitimately get excited about — a truly excellent player they’d convinced to come and who might still be there in ten years — Laporta’s statements screamed it. So much so that when asked about the game-changing arrival, the player everyone wants, the signing that would scream “look at us” and ensure that everyone did, he didn’t back down. Is it possible for Erling Haaland to join as well? “Anything is conceivable,” remarked Laporta.
If it seems a little noncommittal, it’s because he didn’t say no on purpose. He did, however, state the following: “We’re still active participants in the market. Everyone should be ready because we’re back, and this time with a drive to do good. We’ve regained our status. Barcelona’s renaissance is a reality.”
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That might depend on how you define “resurgence” and when it happens.
You already know everything, so let’s get right to it: Barcelona is in debt to the tune of nearly €1.35 billion; they lost €481 million last year alone; they were forced to let Lionel Messi leave for free; and their salary-cap space, or budget, this season is €97.7 million. Real Madrid’s is an eighth the size, while Real Sociedad’s, Athletic Club’s, and Villarreal’s are all smaller. Let alone England, where a side like Watford has the same amount of clout. As a result, the ever-present question arose: How? How were they able to sign Haaland?
In fact, forget Haaland; how could they possibly sign Torres?
They can’t, to put it simply. Not at all. No, not yet.
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Seasonally, the boundaries fluctuate as well. Barcelona’s cap was €382 million last year, and with the pandemic’s effect reducing, it will certainly rise again next year, but it is unlikely that it will approach the amount of their real salary spending unless it continues to fall. (While you could technically keep the same team and make no changes, any new contract would violate those regulations — in other words, you wouldn’t be allowed to renew anybody — and in order to invest anything, you’d have to stick to the salary cap.) In the case of Barcelona, this means bringing the amount under €97.7 million.
This final part is impossibly difficult. You can’t even give away certain gamers to save money if they don’t want to go. Unlawful terminations may result in a legal battle that costs more than it saves. There is another way out because of this, as well as the pandemic’s influence on those boundaries, generating a form of negative equity in which you couldn’t even pay for the squad by getting rid of the whole squad. You may be above the limit and still invest, but only if you can show that you’re correcting the deficiency and your investment is limited to a 1:4 ratio. That is to say, for every €1 a club wishes to spend on their team, they must first save €4.
Of fact, each investment requires a mix of funds, but to put it in the simplest terms: If you’ve reached your maximum, you can’t recruit a player for €1 million a year by releasing a player for €1 million a year and keeping the level the same; you’d have to release a player for €4 million a year. If it’s a high-priced player, the profit margin expands: You may reinvest at a 1 to 2 ratio if you can move on a player who accounts for more than 5% of your limit, meaning a €10 million player provides €5 million in margin.
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 5 • Leganes against. Sociedad (9:55 a.m. ET) • Valencia vs. Cartagena (11:55 a.m. ET) • Barcelona vs. Linares (1:25 p.m. ET) • Tottenham vs. Chelsea (2:40 p.m. ET) • Real Madrid vs. Alcoyano (3:25 p.m. ET)
• Zaragoza vs. Sevilla, THURSDAY, JANUARY 6 (11:55 a.m. ET) • Majadahonda vs. Atletico Madrid (2:40 p.m. ET) • Arsenal vs. Liverpool (2:40 p.m. ET) (3:25 p.m. ET)
“We’ll determine whether there are further signings if we can create ‘fair play’ [margins]; [the latter] will rely on departures,” Alemany continued. Despite their ambition to add other players, including Alvaro Morata, they must first register the one player they have already signed. If they are successful in doing so, only then will they consider additional prospective additions.
These options are diverse, imaginative, and often time-sensitive. Some people are more inclined to stroll than others. In many circumstances, remedies are quite short-term, implying deferring expenditures until a time when they would be simpler to integrate and fit within financial laws — a time when money will be flowing in. Some of the ideas established this summer will most likely be dismantled by then: Memphis Depay, Sergino Dest, and Luuk de Jong are all expected to leave within a year of their arrival, indicating that certain remedies are ineffective. As a result, they labor with their hands somewhat bound.
The fact that Yusuf Demir is no longer playing games — if he makes one more appearance, Barcelona will have to activate a €10 million purchase option — and, even more plainly, a statement made by Xavi Hernández this week, indicate how narrow the margins are, and how finely balanced it all is.
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After Xavi was forced to call up eight players from Barca B, Craig Burley reacts to Barcelona’s tight victory against Mallorca.
Barcelona’s manager was asked for his input when negotiating a new deal for Ousmane Dembele. He said that the Frenchman was vital to the club and that he wanted him to stay. That wasn’t news — he’d previously said that Dembele might be the finest player in the world in his position — but what was new was how critical it was, and why. “If Ousmane renews, we’ll be able to sign one or two players,” he stated.
Take a breath and read it again. This isn’t to say that there won’t be savings if Dembele left — there will, of course — but there will be if he remains. At least for the time being. In other words, Barcelona’s strategy — or, more accurately, their offer — entails his lowering his income or, at the very least, spreading what he earns now over the next several years, with part of it loaded onto the back end of his deal. In its most basic form, it signifies that they are reliant on him. To put it plainly, he looks to have the upper hand.
Dembele has yet to commit to a contract extension, and it seems that he will not. The demands outnumber the available resources, and time is running out. Time is also a factor. “We’ve been talking to his agent for five months,” Alemany said, his annoyance palpable. “We’ve been quite patient. They were aware that we wanted him to remain, and he has accepted our offer. We can’t wait much longer. We are awaiting a firm response so that we may make choices that are in the best interests of the organization.”
There have been proposals that he be relegated to the stands to put pressure on him to renew or go soon, maybe even to receive a price for him, but Dembele sees no benefit in leaving now, which gets us back to a familiar place: Savings can be made, but they are not easy.
Sergio Aguero’s retirement, for example, enabling Dani Alves to register, while Sergi Roberto’s renewal, in order to delay part of his pay, remains another alternative, demonstrating how pressing Barcelona’s problems are. As Alemany said, it is dependent on the players that go, but as we have seen previously, this is not an easy task. People advise selling a high-priced player. Then go ahead and give it a go. Samuel Umtiti isn’t in a rush to go. Philippe Coutinho has been on the market for two years. As the World Cup approaches and again another manager sees little room for him, he looks to be considering leaving.
“We’re working on it,” Alemany added, “and we’re certain we’ll be able to register [Torres] by Sunday.” There is a player and a strategy. Something has to happen, and it has to happen soon, or the one signing they did make, the guy whose presence signaled their comeback, will be unable to play.
Ferran stated, “I’m relaxed; I know I’ll be able to register.”
