What a mess
Barcelona have confirmed that they will sell a percentage of their Barça Studios production house to the controversial fan token platform, Socios.com.
Barça club president Joan Laporta confirmed the news during their unveiling of latest signing Jules Koundé that a deal in the region of €100million (£83.7m) had been completed.
The Catalan giants have already sold off 25 per cent of their television rights for the next 25 years to Sixth Street for a fee estimated to be around €267million (£228m).
During the unveiling, Laporta said he hoped the sale would allow the club to register their new signings. Pablo Torre, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski have all joined in addition to Koundé and are all yet to be registered.
Winger Ousmane Dembélé is also waiting to be registered as he officially classes as a new player following the expiration of his original contract, despite signing a new deal.
Barcelona may still not be able to register new signings, despite making significant sales
The Athletic have reported that the deal with Socios hadn’t been completed at the time of Laporta’s announcement and that they won’t receive the full €100m upfront.
There are also some doubts as to whether the club will actually be allowed to register the new arrivals, even though they have sold off more of themselves in order to do so.
“I have the feeling that we are completing a task, despite the challenges,” the president said.
“Interpreting the fair-play rules is not easy, and our rivals take advantage of the situation, saying this and that about Barça.
“I hope our interpretation is the same as La Liga’s, and they are not going to block the registering of players. If not, we will find a solution. We are working on the departures (of unwanted players) but it is not easy.”
Barcelona are still keen to add to their squad and have targeted Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva and Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso and César Azpilicueta as part of their summer transfer plans but Laporta insisted the main priority is to register those who have already joined.
He added: “First we need to make progress with the players already signed. Then we will see if we can make the additions the coach is asking for.”
Related links:
- Barcelona beat Chelsea to the signing of Jules Kounde
- Barcelona ease financial concerns by selling further 15% of TV rights
- Frenkie De Jong should consider legal action against Barcelona, Gary Neville claims
