Barcelona financial chief claims €500m is needed to ‘save’ the club

Barcelona's dire financial state isn't getting any better

Barcelona need €500 million (£427 million) to "save" the club, according to the Catalan giants' vice president for finance Eduard Romeu. Romeu also claimed that the Spanish outfit will reject the CVC investment deal proposed by La Liga, calling it a "bad deal". It is widely regarded that Barcelona have debts of €1 billion, and the club's financial state has been an issue for a number of years now. https://twitter.com/Transferzone00/status/1534861129427476480 Last summer, the LaLiga side were unable to offer club legend Lionel Messi a new contract, which led to the Argentine joining Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer.

Barca unable to register new signings

Xavi's side have agreed deals to sign Andreas Christensen from Chelsea and Franck Kessie from AC Milan on free transfers, however, they are currently unable to register them due to the salary cap. "The number doing the most damage is asset imbalance," Romeu told Spanish outlet Sport. "The negative capital of €500 million. You could add €150m to that in losses this season if we didn’t do anything. "I said it before, if someone wants give me €500 million... That is what we need to save Barca."

First-team players take salary reductions

Gerard Pique, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets all agreed to reduce their salaries in order to allow the club to register new signings in compliance with La Liga’s salary cap over the past year. French defender Samuel Umtiti also restructured his contract. While the CVC deal - which would've seen a 10 per cent stake in La Liga sold - was backed by the majority of Spanish clubs, Real Madrid and Barcelona filed a lawsuit against the agreement, along with the Spanish FA. On rejecting the deal, Romeu added: "For us, despite all the pressure we have received and the Fair Play issue we always have to keep in mind, it’s a bad deal. "From a financial point of view, it’s settled and I think the president (Joan Laporta) has been very clear." Related links:

• Frenkie de Jong: Man United ‘very close’ to agreement with Barcelona
• Barcelona ‘unable to register new signings Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen’
• Barcelona president claims Kylian Mbappe has been ‘kidnapped for money’