How FC Barcelona wants to afford Lewandowski despite debts

In order to be able to afford Lewandowski, Barça may go further in terms of personnel. Noisy “Mundo Deportivo” Frenkie and Luuk de Jong are said to be on the sales list, along with Martin Braithwaite, Samuel Umtiti, Oscar Mingueza and Riqui Puig. You could bring the “Blaugrana” a transfer fee of around 100 million euros and significantly relieve the personnel budget.

The departure of Frenkie de Jong is particularly controversial. The Dutchman, who was signed from Ajax Amsterdam for €86m in 2020, was seen as the legitimate successor to Barcelona’s Johan Cruyff when he was signed.

Although he did not fulfill these hopes, he did prove his extraordinary talents over the long term. “I like him and I think he can start an era here at the club,” said coach Xavi – and added a little thoughtfully: “In the end it all depends on the economic situation of the club.”

Barcelona also uses a balance sheet trick for this. As Cordula Roura from “Mundo Deportivo” revealed to “Bild”, the players’ salaries will be spread over several years. The pros don’t get their salary paid out within a year, but over a longer period of time, reports Roura.

Thanks to this trick, Barça Lewandowski can offer such an attractive salary. The same is said to have been done when Ferran Torres signed, who came from Manchester City for 55 million euros in the winter.

FC Barcelona recently caused a stir with another deal. Music streaming service Spotify will be the club’s main sponsor from July 2022 and will promote both the men’s and women’s jerseys.

The sponsorship agreement also includes something new: from 2023, the legendary stadium in Barcelona will be renamed “Spotify Camp Nou”. Despite what some Spanish sports media called “breaking a taboo” and traditionalists at the club were up in arms, members agreed to the deal. Probably also because he should flush around 435 million euros into the coffers by 2034.