Joan Laporta reveals Barcelona’s debt is now £1.15BILLION and asks squad to take ANOTHER pay cut

Joan Laporta has revealed the full extent of Barcelona’s staggering financial predicament, as he said the club has amassed a debt of £1.15bn in an alarming update. 

Barcelona are still grieving having waved goodbye to Lionel Messi this month, with the LaLiga giants financially incapable of extending the Argentine superstar’s contract.

Laporta told of how Messi, 34, agreed a two-year deal to be paid over five years in a bid to ease the financial burden on the club, only for the Spanish top flight to reject this proposal. 

The Spaniards have lost Lionel Messi as they were financially unable to re-sign him this month

The club president also hit out at the ‘criminal’ decisions of his predecessor, Josep Bartomeu, a wholly unpopular figure who resigned from his position earlier this year. Messi has since moved on to French giants Paris Saint-Germain.

And now Laporta has lifted the lid on Barcelona’s disastrous financial woes, revealing that the Catalonians have accrued a £1.15bn debt in a press conference on Monday – a £170m increase from the previous figures given in January. 

Laporta said: ‘We have found ourselves in a difficult situation to renegotiate the players’ contracts. 

And Laporta has lifted the lid on the full extent of Barcelona’s alarming economic crisis

‘Our salaries represent 103 per cent of the club’s total income. That is 20-25 per cent more than our competitors.’ 

He had earlier revealed that Messi’s new contract would have taken the club’s wage bill to account for 110 per cent of their annual revenue, a figure the league would never accept. 

Gerard Pique has moved to help ease the financial burden on the club by accepting a pay cut, with Sergi Roberto, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets expected to follow suit. 

Laporta said Pique’s move was ‘admirable’ and that Sergio Aguero’s registration issue is not yet resolved, while admitting that the squad will have to take another pay cut having already done so at the height of Covid. 

Laporta said that the squad will need to take another pay cut to help ease the burden

He praised the ‘admirable’ Gerard Pique for already agreeing to a secondary reduction in wage

‘We are happy to have resolved with Pique the issue (of registering new signings),’ he said via Dermot Corrigan. ‘To reduce salary is very admirable.

‘In Kun’s case it is not yet resolved, but we expect other captains to act like Pique.

‘The squad already reduced salaries due to COVID. Now we ask for a second effort, first response is surprise as nobody likes to lower their salary. 

‘But given the situation they are starting to understand and we trust we can resolve it as soon as possible with captains, then other players.’ 

Laporta also took aim at Bartomeu once again, after the former president claimed in a letter that Barcelona’s economic crisis is the fault of the current chief. 

Laporta also responded to claims from Josep Bartomeu (rght) that the crisis was his own fault

The 59-year-old said of Bartomeu’s claims, as reported by The Spanish Football Podcast: ‘Full of lies. An effort to justify unjustifiable management. An exercise in desperation.’

Despite the concerning financial update, Laporta remains positive that the club will ‘come through this’ with a viable strategy in place to survive the crisis.

‘The situation is dramatic, but we have good news,’ he said. ‘Our strategic plan, and the experience we all have, gives us credibility. I am convinced that we will come through this.’ 

Reports in Spain last week also revealed that Barcelona still owe Messi £33m in loyalty bonuses, despite the Argentine joining PSG. 

Laporta was the subject of criticism from Barca fans at their first game against Real Sociedad

The bonus – worth a total of £66m – was part of Messi’s old contract and the club had paid the first half of the sum in February and are due to pay the remaining £33m this summer. 

Laporta was among those targeted by some fans in the team’s Spanish league opener on Sunday, when they defeated Real Sociedad 4-2. 

There were banners outside the Nou Camp criticising Laporta and accusing him of not doing enough to keep Messi.