Barcelona were once again scrambling to balance their accounts in the summer transfer window, with fans hanging onto news not just of whether they have signed players, but whether they have registered their signings.
Hansi Flick was without the 26-year-old Euro 2024-winner for their first two games of the season against Valencia, which fortunately for the Barcelona hierarchy, ended in victory. Increasingly though, the Barcelona fans are failing to buy the narrative sold to them by President Joan Laporta and company. The issues they face seem never-ending, and having been in power for more than three years, the excuse of his predecessor’s management is sounding tired.
Laporta’s tactics undoubtedly played a role in their title victory two seasons back, revamping the squad, but the numbers are still starting to show mismanagement on the club’s part, Admittedly Frenkie de Jong’s salary does hark back to the previous regime, but neither have they convinced the Dutchman to sign a new deal nor leave.
As per ExpressVPN’s reporting de Jong is currently the 9th-best paid player in world football currently. The only other player to feature in the top ten that plays in Europe is Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, who has an argument to be the best player in the world currently. Many, and many at Barcelona, would argue that de Jong is not even the best midfielder in his team.
Taking their high costs into account, Barcelona are still producing the third-highest revenue in world football, behind only Real Madrid and Manchester City. While arguably some of those figures have been inflated by their ‘economic levers’, or asset sales, Barcelona have consistently ranked inside the top five for revenue and value since Laporta’s first spell as president.
For the past three years, during Laporta’s mandate, Barcelona have been making more money than the vast majority of their competitors. Yet this summer Atletico Madrid, who ranked 14th for value and have a revenue closer to half of Barcelona’s, are currently tripling Barcelona’s spend in the transfer market.
Towards the end of last season, some fans started to manifest their ire towards Laporta, which was quickly followed by the sacking of Xavi Hernandez. Meanwhile Sporting Director Deco is under pressure to deliver. Both of their positions could well depend on the success of this season and Hansi Flick’s ability to operate with the squad given to him. If he does not, it’s not the German that will carry the can.
