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Barcelona's financial troubles

Barcelona’s financial position has worsened even further over the last year. The club’s bank debt has grown from €271 million to €480 million, of which €266 million is due in 2020-21 so must be refinanced. The amount of money owed to other clubs has risen from €261 million to €323 million, of which about half is due before the end of the current financial year.

Some steps have been taken to try and deal with the biggest immediate problems. An agreement was reached late last month with one group of creditors to refinance €200 million which Bartomeu’s board had taken out in 2018 and 2019 to help pay for transfers. The €145 million credit line from the Spanish government’s emergency COVID-19 fund for businesses has also been rolled over for another year.

This week it was widely reported the club had negotiated a new credit line of up to €500 million from Goldman Sachs, of which €100 million was to be used immediately to settle outstanding payments owed to players.

There are no signs yet of longer-term solutions being progressed.

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