Despite challenges, Barca is most valuable club
MADRID. — Despite their huge financial problems, Barcelona have been ranked top of the list of the world’s most valuable football clubs with their value set at US$4,76 billion.
The Blaugrana are followed by Real Madrid (US$4,75 billion), Bayern Munich (US$4,21 billion), Manchester United (US$4,2 billion) and Liverpool (US$4,1 billion).
The Forbes report come after Barca’s financial report this year painted a troubling picture for the football giant, with newspapers in Spain even speculating the club was close to bankruptcy.
Spain’s second largest national newspaper, El Mundo, claimed, when the club’s financial report was released, that Barca were on the “verge of bankruptcy.’’
El Mundo’s claim was based on the club’s acknowledgement that their balance sheet showed a “negative working capital” of over US$729 million.
In the 2020 financial year, Barca said they made a loss of around US$117 million, though they said that without the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, they would have made a small profit of around US$2 million.
Club financials also showed that Barcelona have a total of US$1,4 billion in debt. US$322million of that debt must be paid to banks by the end of June.
A further US$562 million worth of debt repayments are also due in the short term, including US$237 million owed to other teams for recent transfers.
Barcelona still owe US$35 million to Liverpool, for the signing of Philippe Coutinho back in 2018, while Ajax are due US$19 million, for the signing of Frenkie de Jong in 2019.
They also owe Bordeaux, Gremio, and Bayern Munich for the respective signings of Malcom, Arthur, and Arturo Vidal, despite all those players having now moved on to new teams.
Revenues fell to US$1.03 billion from US$1,2 billion in 2019.
Around 74 percent of that revenue was spent on player’s salaries, the club said, up from 68 percent in 2019.
January’s missed payments for players were expected to be paid in February, but the club could also incur a significant financial penalty for exceeding La Liga rules, which state clubs should spend no more than 70% of income on player salaries, reported El Mundo.
Players late last year collectively agreed to a wage cut to help the club financially during the pandemic. At the time, the cut was said to be worth about US$147 million.
While Barca’s finances remain a concern, the Paris Saint-German are growing in leaps and bounds and have made Forbes Top 10 list, for the first time in their history, after climbing two positions with respect to the outlet’s previous report.
According to Forbes, PSG’s value has skyrocketed from a reported US$1.4 billion in 2008 to US$2,5 billion in 2021, an increase of 129 percent in 13 years. PSG growth kickstarted in 2011 when the club were purchased by Qatar Sports Investments.
However, PSG president, Nasser al Khelaifi is facing two important obstacles in his attempt to compete with the rest of the European football powerhouses, as the club do not own their ground, the Le Parc des Princes and TV income is much lower in Ligue 1 than in LaLiga Santander or the Premier League.
Meanwhile, in life there are many people who earn far more than their performances warrant, and football is no different, as we look to compare the best performing XI of players in world football with the best paid XI.
The Best Paid XI in the world
David de Gea ( US$ 18m), Gerrard Pique ( US$ 10,15m), Vigil van Dijk ( US$ 10.75m), Sergio Ramos ( US$ 14.3m), Kevin De Bruyne ( US$ 22,7m), Paul Pogba ( US$ 17,9m), Lionel Messi ( US$ 90,8m), Antoine Griezmann ( US$ 23,9m), Neymar ( US$ 35,8m), Cristiano Ronaldo ( US$ 37m) and Gareth Bale ( US$ 27,4m)
The Best XI in the world
Jan Oblak ( US$ 11,9m), Alphonso Davies ( US$ 5,8m), Vigil van Dijk ( US$ 10,75m), Sergioe Ramos ( US$ 14,3m), Trent Alexander-Arnold ( US$ 2,98m), Kevin de Bruyne ( US$ 22,7m), Luca Modric ( US$ 11,9m), Neymar ( US$ 35,8m), Lionel Messi ( US$ 90,8m), Erling Haaland ( US$ 5,3m) and Kylian Mbappe ( US$ 23,9m).