He’s already training in a Barça jersey, but it’s still a long time before Robert Lewandowski can play. His new club needs money. Lot of money.
After the commitment of world footballer Robert Lewandowski from FC Bayern and other renowned professionals, FC Barcelona continues to cash in to be able to afford even more reinforcements. According to the Spanish club, it has sold another 15 percent of its television rights for the next 25 years to the investment company Sixth Street. The club now needs at least 100 million euros to register the newcomers for the game and to be able to comply with the requirements of the Spanish professional league, the specialist newspaper “Sport” wrote on Saturday, citing club circles.
Controversial sale of club assets
At the end of June, Barça had already assigned ten percent of its TV rights to Sixth Street and secured income of 207.5 million euros. On Friday, the club announced the sale of a further 15 percent. This time, the value of the deal was not disclosed. According to media estimates, however, another 315 million will flow into the coffers of the club, which has a debt of 1.35 billion euros.
The not uncontroversial sale of club assets was only approved at a general meeting in mid-June. Accordingly, the executive floor around President Joan Laporta can assign a maximum of 25 percent of the TV rights and also sell a minority stake of no more than 49.9 percent in Barca Licensing and Merchandising (BLM). However, “Sport” wrote on Saturday that the club would only sell a 20 to 30 percent stake in BLM in order to collect the 100 million euros that were still needed.