Why FC Barcelona will be able to recruit heavyweights next summer despite all its problems

Barça’s concerns are known to all. Between the financial, institutional and even sporting crisis in recent weeks, the Catalan club also risks finding itself without Dani Olmo and without Pau Victor for the second part of the season. Management is attempting a last stand with the Spanish government after La Liga’s refusal to validate the registration of the two players on December 31, followed by a “no” from the Federation after an appeal by Barça. Suffice to say that things smell very bad in this story, and Dani Olmo can, if he wishes, already leave the club.

Unheard of for a club of such a level, and inevitably, President Joan Laporta is under fire from criticism, with many opposition groups demanding his resignation, and the threat of a motion of censure looming over the board. above his head. At the same time, the Catalan press continues to talk about big players who could potentially land at Barcelona next summer. There was even talk of players like Erling Haaland and Viktor Gyökeres, while since the start of the week, Sport as Mundo Deportivo spoke about Luis Diaz, Rafael Leão, Heung-Min Son and Jhon Duran. Players whose price, for some, clearly approaches a 9-figure sum, or even exceeds it… Information which can logically make you smile: how can a club which cannot even register a player to play in La Liga? he claims to recruit such expensive players? Can we really take this transfer window information from the Catalan media seriously?

Things have changed

Questions which have nuanced answers, obviously, but it is entirely possible that the Catalan club could recruit quite expensive players next summer. Indeed, Barça just returned to the 1:1 rule of La Liga financial fair play a few days ago. This was made possible following the signing of a deal for the sale of VIP seats at the Camp Nou for a sum slightly higher than 100 million euros. Barça has therefore finally entered the nails of this Spanish financial fair play – and if it happened too late to be able to register Olmo and Victor – it will allow to have much more room for maneuver and to regain great power to purchase during the next transfer window.

Indeed, during the last transfer windows, Barça had for example to earmark part of its income, including those linked to the sale of players, to plug the holes and try to comply with the financial rules of the championship. Barça even reached a point where La Liga only allowed it to spend 25% of the sums obtained from the sale of players to be able to recruit! From now on, with this return to 1:1, every euro that enters the club’s coffers through the sale of players can be used: if Barça sells a player for 100 million euros, it will be able to use these 100 million euros, or even more, to recruit behind, which has not been the case for several years.

Barça will have cash available

And players who can bring in money without being that important, Barça has several, like Ronald Araujo or Frenkie de Jong. The sale of these two players or even one of them could already finance a big arrival. Not to mention players currently on loan or on whom the club retains percentages. Barça could, for example, receive more than 30 million euros in the coming weeks with the definitive sale of Clément Lenglet to Atlético, the departure of Mingueza from Celta to Aston Villa and the possible transfer of Mika Marmol (Las Palmas) to Serie A. Francisco Trincao is also likely to bring in big profits, he who is a hit at Sporting and who is followed by English and German clubs. Barça will thus receive 50% of its next sale. The club also has fairly high percentages on players likely to be sold for large sums in the coming months like Nico Gonzalez (Porto), Jean-Clair Todibo (West Ham – Nice) or Abde (Betis). Until the start of 2025, Barça could only have used a small part of all these sums to strengthen themselves behind; now he will be able to use all of it.

Barça will also have more flexibility in terms of its wage bill, and will be able to offer bigger salaries, which is also very interesting in view of next summer’s free agent market, where many big names will be available at low cost. zero but to whom it will be necessary to offer substantial emoluments to convince them. All this, without obviously counting the usual income linked to TV rights or performances in the various competitions in which Barça participates. Of course, the club’s financial situation remains tense and Barça will not be able to bring in 5 galactics at 100 million euros each during this 2025 summer transfer window, but it is entirely realistic to imagine Barça being able to afford one or two of the players mentioned above in this article next summer…