Barcelona acknowledge €159m debt in unpaid transfer fees, club must pay €140m this season | OneFootball

Barcelona are in serious financial trouble, and their past mistakes in the transfer window continue to haunt them despite recent optimism from club president Joan Laporta.

According to Marca, Barca have acknowledged that they still owe €159 million in unpaid transfer fees to several clubs and they must pay €140m this season.

That’s significantly more than the €45m they settled last year, which proves just how far they are from permanently fixing their financial issues.

Barca’s current crisis is the consequence of their spending spree over the past few years, especially during the 2022 summer transfer window.

They splashed €150m to bring in Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, Raphinha from Leeds United and Jules Kounde from Sevilla.

Three years down the line, the Catalan giants still owe €78m for those deals alone. French clubs Bordeaux, Stade Rennais and La Brede FC are among the clubs still waiting for payment.

Bordeaux are expecting around €359,000 from the Kounde deal, while La Brede, the small regional club where the defender once played, are owed €80,000.

Meanwhile, Stade Rennais are still waiting on around €32,000 as part of Raphinha’s transfer to Barca.

The delay surrounding the reopening of Barca’s iconic Spotify Camp Nou stadium has also weakened the club’s finances.

With the team still unable to play on their home ground, matchday revenue has plummeted, which is making an already terrible financial situation even worse.

Barca announced that they ended the 2024/25 fiscal year with a €17m loss, showing that Laporta’s ‘economic levers’ have done little to get the club out of the woods.

Despite the current situation, Laporta is still convinced that the club is making significant progress.

“We are much better off than we were four and a half years ago,” Laporta said.

“Some of the statements surprise me – everything can be improved. But today we are much better off than when we arrived.”

Barca are looking to defend their La Liga crown this season. At the moment, they’re two points behind Real Madrid in the traditional two-way race for the title.