The Catalan club could be pulled out of the mire by foreign investment
Barcelona have apparently received an offer of approximately €1.5 billion (£1.2bn) from a Dubai based company which would help them clear their humungous debts.
As reported in the Mirror, the Spanish giants were made an offer to refinance their debts from an as yet unknown company from the United Arab Emirates city. Furthermore, if they were to accept the approach, they would apparently receive the money immediately, meaning that the club could instantly wipe the otherwise
seemingly insurmountable debts.
According to Spanish football show,
El Curubito, the offer includes multiple clauses that would allow Barca to repay the financiers flexibly and over an extended period of years.
https://twitter.com/ElCurubitoTV/status/1442617935739097091?s=20
Translated into English, the Tweet reads: "1) A Dubai company has offered to buy the debt with 1500M€. 2) The repayment would be flexible and would allow a full
moratorium for 2 years, extendable up to 12 years. 3) This would allow signing without restriction".
Along with rivals
Real Madrid, Barca are also thought to have recently rejected a
multi-billion euro investment and revenue-sharing deal between
La Liga and a private equity firm called CVC. It essentially would have seen them pump money into the league in return for 10% of their revenue and a 10% stake in the connected business. Basically, smaller clubs would have benefited most.
However, this proposal also required them to sign on the dotted line for a 50-year agreement at least. On the other hand, the Dubai investors are said to be offering a very low-interest alternative, naturally making the approach more appealing and one which would allow Barca to continue to resolve their wage crisis and presumably continue to invest next summer.
The legendary La Liga side were only able to register any of their new signings thanks to the likes of
Gerard Pique taking a substantial pay cut, as well as
Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets.
It remains unclear whether
Joan Laporta and the board are considering the deal or not, but it's likely the only way they are going to get out of the mess they created is through this kind of route or by some miracle by another generous benefactor. It is also worth noting that the club does already have an
academy set up in Dubai - could the connections already be there?
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