FC Barcelona Finances

Luftstalag14

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/...messi-contract.html?smtyp=cur&smid=tw-nytimes

On a sweltering late summer afternoon, Barcelona’s executives had come to one of Monte Carlo’s most exclusive hotels to strike a deal with the German club Borussia Dortmund for one of the most exciting young prospects in Europe: the French forward Ousmane Demb?l?.

Barcelona had decided on its strategy, and its price: Demb?l?, in Barcelona’s eyes, was worth $96 million, and not a cent more. No matter how hard Dortmund pressed for a higher fee, the men from Barcelona would hold firm. The two executives steeled themselves as they headed to the suite the Germans had booked. They embraced before knocking on the door. And then they stepped inside, only to find that Dortmund’s executives had decided on a strategy, too.

The Germans told their guests that they had a plane to catch. They had no time to exchange small talk, and they were not here to negotiate. If Barcelona wanted Demb?l?, it would have to pay roughly double the Spaniards’ valuation: $193 million. The price would make the 20-year-old Frenchman the second-most expensive soccer player in history.

Barcelona’s president, Josep Maria Bartomeu, was stunned. But he did not walk away. He quickly agreed to pay almost the entire amount, settling at a fee of $127 million up front, with a further $50 million in easily-achieved performance bonuses. For all his intentions of playing hardball, he felt he did not have a choice.

Only a few weeks earlier, Barcelona had seen one of its own crown jewels, Neymar, plucked by Paris St.-Germain. Bartomeu could not risk disappointing a fan base still reeling from that blow by returning home empty-handed. He needed a marquee signing, a trophy, a trinket. He had to pay the price.
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Fuck Neymar. Fuck PSG.
 
Luftstalag14

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
soul24rage said:
Reading that felt like I was reading a fiction novel lol
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The only things missing were some hookers and international spies, haha.

Seriously, this is depressing stuff. How Neymar and PSG put us into that horrible situation, being taken advantage by everybody, I mean everybody we dealt with at the time. How Bartomeu & Co. fucked up big time by doing these panicky deals that got us to where we are today. I'd rather we didn't sign Neymar and didn't win the treble in 2015 than getting that piece of shit and getting screwed by him in the end.
 
L

Laplacian

Senior Member
Neymar and PSG didn't fuck us over, they gave us 220m lmao. Barto fucked us over by acting like a complete fucking amateur for over half a decade. 120m+160m+127m is all on us.
 
Mrgandalf

Mrgandalf

Curious member
What I saw was Barcelona's impersonality in the negotiations. We were like a five-year-old with money in his hand. As we lost our character on the ground, so did we off the ground. And the main task of the next board is to restore our character. We do not need to be European champions every year, but we do need authority and charisma.
 
FinBarcelonafan

FinBarcelonafan

Well-known member
Yes, look at United. They didn't sign Sancho and probably saved a lot of money. You need to have certain limits when dealing with Dortmund.

Who else was after Dembele back then? I don't believe anyone else was even close to our price in terms of bidding.. it seems absurd price to pay.
 
behindbrowneyes

behindbrowneyes

Well-known member
Laplacian said:
Neymar and PSG didn't fuck us over, they gave us 220m lmao. Barto fucked us over by acting like a complete fucking amateur for over half a decade. 120m+160m+127m is all on us.
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Neymar did the club dirty by not talking about his desire to leave and waiting until his loyalty bonus was due. This left the club with 222M late in the transfer summer and every other club knew that. Barto was desperate enough to pay what Dortmund demanded because he got embarrassed big time by Nasser.

Would have been much easier to negotiate with other clubs before Neymar left. No one expected a club to pay 222M for a football player back then. That was more than double of the record sum by - I think - Pogba to United.
 
FinBarcelonafan

FinBarcelonafan

Well-known member
behindbrowneyes said:
Neymar did the club dirty by not talking about his desire to leave and waiting until his loyalty bonus was due. This left the club with 222M late in the transfer summer and every other club knew that. Barto was desperate enough to pay what Dortmund demanded because he got embarrassed big time by Nasser.

Would have been much easier to negotiate with other clubs before Neymar left. No one expected a club to pay 222M for a football player back then. That was more than double of the record sum by - I think - Pogba to United.
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Very true. It was Bartos mess up but Neymar made us no favour..
 
Raketa10

Raketa10

Senior Member
behindbrowneyes said:
Neymar did the club dirty by not talking about his desire to leave and waiting until his loyalty bonus was due. This left the club with 222M late in the transfer summer and every other club knew that. Barto was desperate enough to pay what Dortmund demanded because he got embarrassed big time by Nasser.

Would have been much easier to negotiate with other clubs before Neymar left. No one expected a club to pay 222M for a football player back then. That was more than double of the record sum by - I think - Pogba to United.
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100% true. To be fair Barto's decision not to resign him back in 2019 was one of the very few times he did the right thing. PSG probably wouldn't let him go but I had a feeling Barto didn't even try.
 
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Luftstalag14

Luftstalag14

Culé de Celestial Empire
Laplacian said:
Neymar and PSG didn't fuck us over, they gave us 220m lmao. Barto fucked us over by acting like a complete fucking amateur for over half a decade. 120m+160m+127m is all on us.
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Bartomeu was responsible for succumbing to pressure and got those panicky signings that cost us so much in the end, yes; but Neymar and PSG made it so by pulling the transfer and did it so late and put us in a situation that was taken advantage of by everybody.
 
FinBarcelonafan

FinBarcelonafan

Well-known member
Luftstalag14 said:
Bartomeu was responsible for succumbing to pressure and got those panicky signings that cost us so much in the end, yes; but Neymar and PSG made it so by pulling the transfer and did it so late and put us in a situation that was taken advantage of by everybody.
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What is the best case scenario we pay for those players though? 300 mil? Everything over 300 mil was overpayment.
 
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