Barcelona in €1.35 billion debt: President Laporta speaks

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed that the club is in €1.35 billion worth of debt.

This represents a €200m increase from the figure that was reported in January.

This debt was reportedly a result of horrific off-field problems of the club and overspending on wages and transfer fees.

It also led to new signings Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia not being able to be registered until players agreed to an eleventh-hour pay cut before their game against Real Sociedad on Sunday.

Laporta revealed the full extent of the club’s financial problems in a press conference on Monday.

The president admitted that Barcelona currently has a net worth of negative €451m.

He blamed former president Josep Maria Bartomeu for the situation.

“Previous board just ignored financial controls. Just like in Barçagate, other invoices were ‘split up’ to avoid having to go through oversight as they should have. Including Espai Barça [Camp Nou rebuild],” he said.

He also accused Bartomeu of conning the club’s members and reserved special criticism for his handling of the funds they received from selling Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain for over £200m.

“I would remind Bartomeu of all the damage the Neymar deal did to Barça’s image. There were 4 open cases with Neymar, we thought best for Barça’s interests to settle and avoid more risks.”