There was a lot of talk about possible transfers at Barcelona this summer but nothing really happened, so it did look like the club were having some serious financial issues.
Those issues will mostly be the result of Covid-19 on football and how it’s hurt their revenue, but they’ve also damaged themselves in recent years with a dreadful record in the transfer market too.
A lot of money has been spent with nothing much coming back in, and they do have an ageing squad so it was always going to be tough to sell anyone for a reasonable amount of money.
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A report from AS has revealed further financial problems at the club, and suddenly the lack of action this summer makes a lot of sense.
They confirm the club is in such a bad way that they are looking to impose a 30% pay cut on all players and staff, but that will be disputed and it could end up in court if negotiations don’t go well.
It’s suggested that all sides are miles apart in their stance on this so it’s likely to end with ill feeling, but you also have to feel for the ordinary people who work at the club.
The report confirms that the non playing staff account for just 3% of the budget while the players take up 70%, while general staff at football clubs tend to be poorly paid so cutting their salary will make little difference.
It’s also stressed that the club need to find a solution to this very quickly, but you do get the impression that this could be a long drawn out affair.