Barcelona debt has hit £1.15bn, admits Laporta

Barcelona’s debts total £1.15billion, the club’s president admitted as he opened up on their “very worrying” financial situation.

Joan Laporta blamed his predecessor, Josep Bartomeu, for a “terrible inheritance” that, he says, means club salaries represent 103 per cent of income. Blaming a financial regime that was previously “full of lies”, he said the club faced an even more “dramatic” situation following Lionel Messi’s departure.

Laporte, in his second spell as club president after winning the 2021 elections this year, said the club were spending “20-25 per cent more than our competitors” on player-income ratios.

“The first thing we had to do when we arrived was to ask for a loan of €80million (£68million) because otherwise we could not pay the salaries,” he said. “The previous regime was full of lies.”

However, he insisted Barcelona could reverse their poor financial situation within a year and a half, despite having ended last year €451 million in the red.

“I reckon that in a couple of years the club will be healthy, our morale is very high” he said, adding that the five-time European champions had many potential sponsorship deals open to them.

With their finances in dire straits after years of wage inflation and expensive transfers, the club could not afford to renew their contract with Messi, leading to his shock departure to Paris St-germain.

The club’s debts total €1.35billion, €673million of which are owed to banks, he added.

Bartomeu recently published a letter in which he denied any wrongdoing during his administration.