Rafael van der Vaart is not only a well-known face in the Bundesliga, the former midfielder is also very familiar with Spain’s Primera División after having worked for Real Madrid and Real Betis. The Dutchman observes the events surrounding FC Barcelona with a mixture of incomprehension and deep dislike.
Maybe it’s because Rafael van der Vaart never managed to win against Barca. In four meetings with the Blaugrana, the midfielder always left the field as a loser. But maybe it’s also the general shaking of the head about the financial balancing act that the Catalans are currently doing that made van der Vaart talk about the club in such a way.
“How on earth can you buy players if you don’t have any money? I think it’s a shame,” said the 109-time Dutch international on Ziggo. The heavily indebted club spent this summer diligently on new players despite liabilities in the billions. Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha and Jules Koundé came for a total of more than 150 million euros.
Barca sell more stakes for entitlements
The precarious financial situation culminated last Friday when Barcelona were only able to raise the necessary budget to register the new players with the association and thus be eligible to play, just one day before the start of the season.
In addition, 24.5 percent of the shares in “Barça Studios” were sold to Orpheus Media for 100 million euros. However, it was not enough to ensure that all newcomers were eligible to play, and Koundé has yet to make his first appearance.
Meanwhile, van der Vaart is particularly angry about the behavior towards players with valid contracts. For example, Frenkie de Jong is under pressure from the club to end his high-paying contract in order to save the club money.
Van der Vaart on Barca’s dealings: ‘It’s mafia’
“Does Frenkie earn too much? You sign a contract and then you fulfill the contract or leave on good terms, but not like that. You can’t treat people like that. It’s mafia and they have to be punished for it,” van der Vaart fumed.
The Dutchman sees the current president as responsible for the misery. “Joan Laporta, who laughs everywhere with his big head… This man thinks he’s the king. But I think he’s a bit of an idiot,” said the former Real Madrid professional.
In short: “Barca’s reputation on the map has gone really bad.”