Barcelona Ask Major Banks To Delay Debt Repayments Owed

Barcelona have asked a host of major banks to delay debt repayments so that the club can avoid insolvency.

El Confidencial via Football Espana claim the LaLiga side have requested from Goldman Sachs, Allianz, Barings, Amundi and Prudential a dispensation for failing to financially comply, which points to a non payment of approximately £178m.

The Catalonians reportedly have a negative working capital of £535m, with a further £89m owed to other lenders.

Barcelona announced that the club’s debts had doubled in worrying new financial results for the 2019-20 season.

According to Marca, the club’s debt had skyrocketed from £193m to £434m in the space of 12 months, from June 2019 to June 2020.

As a result, the club have made cuts to its first team squad in a bid to reduce the wage bill, with a reported £71m slashed from the books after the sales of Nelson Semedo, Arthur, Ivan Rakitic and Marc Cucurella.

Interim president Carlos Tusquets revealed to Catalonian radio station RAC1 that the club have failed to pay players for their pre-agreed January salary.

The next president and his board will have to deal with the situation as a priority.