Barca wage bill casts doubt on Pogba deal
Barcelona have projected a wage bill of €633 million (£563 million) for this season, which – along with profits of just €11million – leaves no room in the budget for an outlay on Paul Pogba, given the likely £133 million transfer fee and major salary contract.
The Catalan club announced a summary of their financial results for the 2017-18 year yesterday, eager to celebrate revenue of €916million which they claim to be the largest ever for a sports club. Certainly, it is bigger than the Real Madrid turnover of €750million for the corresponding period, which was announced by their rivals last week, although the warning signs for Barcelona were elsewhere.
The wage bill climbed to €639million despite the club having predicted in last season’s accounts that it would be just €588 million for this period.
The club were boosted by the €222 million sale of Neymar to Paris St-germain in the summer of last year, a transfer they bitterly opposed at the time, which nonetheless kept their wages to revenue ratio at 70 per cent. Without that sale included in the results, the wages to revenue ratio would have stood at 89.5 per cent.
Publicly, Neymar’s sale was resisted by Barcelona’s board. Nevertheless, these accounts show that the record fee paid has been a vital lifeline and it remains to be seen how the club will stay in profit next summer, with Barcelona not ruling out further sales.
The Neymar sale can reasonably be considered an extraordinary item with no further big names to sell, unless the club were prepared to part with the jewel in their crown, Lionel Messi. Josep Bartomeu, the Barcelona president, has long said that selling Messi is simply not up for discussion.
The Daily Telegraph reported last week that Pogba was unhappy at Manchester United and asked before the start of the season to leave. Even if United were prepared to sell, they would do so at a price that was near the €150million level at the least. Barcelona’s latest figures make it doubtful that they would have the funds to cover a one-off payment, as well as finance the kind of contract Pogba would expect.
The Spanish Liga sets salary caps for each club according to their revenue and Barcelona are at the maximum of their current cap.
The Neymar fee has kept Barcelona in profit this year, with the combined cost of Philippe Coutinho and Ousmane Dembele having been spread over the course of their respective five-year contracts.
Barcelona say that they could better their revenue next year through “improved commercial and sponsorship revenue, media rights, stadium revenues and transfers of players”.