JUST-IN: US investment fund lends Barcelona €500 million

Good news for Barcelona’s accounts. According to reports from ‘ESPN’, Joan Laporta has reportedly obtained a loan of 500 million euros, issued by a prestigious US investment fund.

The aforementioned source adds that, at the moment, the president will only utilise 100 million, which will be put towards fixing the large debts within the club.

This is important given that Barca, like many other clubs, carry out the payments of their players’ salaries in two stages. The first comes between December and January, while the second is done at the end of the season. The club still has outstanding payments from this first stage nearly five months ago, for which reason this 100 million sum will be utilised to cover those initial salaries.

Again quoting this same source, some footballers are reportedly owed up to 40% of their annual salary. Facing the fear of potential complaints to the Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE), Laporta spent time looking at economic alternatives, when he found in the United States a solution.

Read Also: Pep warns Aguero over Champions League final berth

Barcelona’s total debt stands at around 1.2 billion euros, according to the accounts that were made public in January. If the economic state of the club was delicate, then the pandemic has only made the situation worse – as it has with many other clubs. For this reason, players have already accepted pay cuts as one of many plans to try and save some money within the club.