Barcelona, (EFE) that the reduction of the same will take place when “extraordinary income” from the new Spotify Camp Nou is allocated to it.
This was stated in an informal meeting with journalists by the Barcelona financial manager. “We have restructured the debt for up to ten years, maximum prudence,” Romeu requested.
The club is not worse than two and a half years ago
The economic vice president does not agree with the affirmation of Víctor Font, candidate in the last elections, that the club is in a worse situation than two and a half years ago.
“This is not like that,” he said and recalled that even Joan Laporta’s board of directors had to request a loan of 200 million to pay the payroll for that May 2021.
“When we arrived, the emails (from the servers) had been deleted, we asked for two years of patience in the patrimonial and sports aspects and in the latter case we have shortened one year,” he said.
Romeu wants the club to obtain “recurring positive results without the use of levers” and aspires to return to “black numbers” in the 2023-24 season.
Salary reduction from 708 million to 528 million
The expected salary mass for the next financial year reaches 528 million euros, without counting the registrations and departures of players, when it was 708 million at the time Joan Laporta’s board of directors took command of the club.
In addition, Romeu revealed that of those 528 million, 90 correspond to the salary mass of the sections and 51 million to five players that the club does not have (Lenglet, Umtiti, Dest, Collado and Gustavo Maia). The vice president commented that they also inherited 389 million in deferred salaries, of which 70 million still remain to be paid.
And in this regard, he recalled that “the easy thing” was “to do what was done before”, that is, to defer payments, gradually increasing the tokens, as happened in a few cases.
“You have to have responsibility, because putting your hand in people’s pockets is ungrateful. Let’s not be simplistic,” insisted the head of the economic area, who denounced the existence of inherited “lying bonuses,” such as payments for contract fulfillment or for winning games.
He also offered a piece of information to exemplify the situation in which Barça found itself, with intermediation payments that reached 40 percent of the operations.
“The arrival of Neymar caused the start of the problem, because everything is inflated by making an exorbitant payment for a player who has just arrived. The madness occurs when he leaves, we lose our grip, ”he says.
New contracts can be registered from July 1
Romeu also spoke about the registration of players in LaLiga, players who are renewed and have new conditions, but who have not been registered, referring to Gavi, Araujo, Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto or Iñaki Peña.
To do this, Barcelona will have to wait until July 1. Romeu announced that the board of directors will have to guarantee six million euros, because the cuts planned in the professional sections have not reached the requests made by LaLiga.
“These registrations can be made, it is something that does not worry us, even if we have to activate that guarantee,” insisted the economic vice president.
Montjüic, the closure of Barça TV and the rise of women’s Barça
Romeu did not quantify the forecast of subscribers who have given their consent to renew their subscription to go to Montjüic. “The figure is not up to date,” he commented, despite the fact that different information indicates that they would reach 12,500 applications, far from the forecast of 20,000.
Regarding the closure of Barça TV, which will take place at the end of this month, the economic vice president recalled that it is part of the feasibility plan. He estimated its cost at 14 million per year and benefits of two million. “It is not sustainable either financially or by audience,” he insisted.
Asked if the general cuts that are taking place in the club will also affect the women’s soccer team, champion of the League and the Champions League, and the only one of the entity that does not generate losses, Romeu recalled: “You have to be sustainable , we will maintain competitiveness. It won’t have cuts, but we can’t go crazy either”.