REVEALED: Barcelona tried to buy back future TV rights revenue from SELF in a bid to create a £126m windfall before LaLiga turned down the inflated numbers… as giants look for ways to register their summer signings
Barcelona has tried a remarkable financial trick to register new stars
They tried to buy their own future TV earnings from themselves last week
But LaLiga noticed the club’s artificially inflated income and did not accept it
Joan Laporta desperately tries to register his club’s streak of summer purchases
However, the club is confident and continues to buy players for Xavi’s team
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Barcelona were so desperate this summer to comply with LaLiga’s financial fair play rules that they bought their own future TV rights earnings from themselves and tried to declare the deal as new income.
Spanish radio station Cope revealed the perfectly legal move, confirming that LaLiga would not accept the artificially inflated declared earnings, leaving the club still trying to find ways to register all their new signings.
Barca brilliantly dismantled Pumas on Sunday in their last friendly before the season of what has been an extraordinary summer. And President Joan Laporta said, “It won’t be a problem to register all the players we’ve signed. We are on the right track (to do that).’
Barcelona bought their own TV rights, future earnings of themselves to comply with LaLiga rules
But LaLiga noticed and rejected the artificially inflated income, leaving Barcelona still short
But a measure of how difficult the process has been can be seen in the way Barcelona structured one of their asset sell-offs this summer.
The club sold 25 percent of the future TV rights, but there was a difference of opinion about how much money they raised. They declared €667 million (£562 million), but LaLiga only accepted €517 million (£435 million).
The difference can be explained by the financial card trick the Spanish club played.
First, they co-founded a spin-off company called Locksley Invest with the American investment fund Sixth Street. Both Barca and Sixth Street own 50 percent of Locksley Invest.
Twenty-five percent of Barca’s future TV rights revenues were sold to Locksley, with Sixth Street paying $517 million for them over the next 25 years and Barca paying $150 million to buy them back in 25 years.
The club stated the total of €667 million (£562 million) in their paperwork sent to LaLiga last week. But LaLiga has only accepted the €517million (£435million) and sees the other €150million (£126million) basically as the club buying from itself.
Barcelona will not be able to register some of their new signings until they have relieved financial pressures
An exit from a big name like Frenkie de Jong (right) would allow Barcelona to register more new faces
This has led to a shortfall in Barca’s higher sales figures. But there is still optimism that the club can start the season with all the new signings registered.
That confidence is reflected in the fact that the club continues to attract players. Chelsea left-back Marco Alsono will undergo a medical early this week before joining for a fee of €8 million (£6.7 million).
There are several ways the club plans to find the missing money. They are about to sign a new shirt sponsorship deal with Cryptocurrency exchange, WhiteBIT, which could pay a whopping €20 million (£17 million) to appear on the sleeve of the shirts.
They could also sell more of the club’s assets. There is the opportunity to sell an additional 24.5 percent of Barca studios to socios.com, which has already bought 24.5 percent. And there is the opportunity to sell part of the merchandising branch of the club Barca Licensing and Merchandising (BLM).
The club don’t want to risk its future any more than it has and selling a great player will mean they don’t have to, but persuading Frenkie de Jong, who played and scored in the friendly, to continue very difficult.