Barcelona Sells More Assets as it Hopes to Register Players

20 July 2022, US, Florida: Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski holds up Barcelona's jersey during a press conference to present him as the new player for the team. (dpa)
20 July 2022, US, Florida: Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski holds up Barcelona's jersey during a press conference to present him as the new player for the team. (dpa)
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Barcelona Sells More Assets as it Hopes to Register Players

20 July 2022, US, Florida: Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski holds up Barcelona's jersey during a press conference to present him as the new player for the team. (dpa)
20 July 2022, US, Florida: Polish footballer Robert Lewandowski holds up Barcelona's jersey during a press conference to present him as the new player for the team. (dpa)

Barcelona has sold off even more of its club assets in the hopes of meeting the Spanish league’s financial rules so Robert Lewandowski and its other signings can play in the season opener.

Barcelona said Friday that it had agreed to sell 24.5% of its Barça Studios production hub to Orpheus Media in a deal that would earn it 100 million euros ($103 million).

Last month Barcelona sold an initial 25% stake in its production hub to Socios.com, a blockchain provider, for another 100 million euros as well as 25% of its Spanish league television rights for the next 25 years for nearly 670 million euros ($689 million).

All told, the heavily indebted Catalan club has mortgaged its future for 870 million euros ($895 million) in order to sign Lewandowski from Bayern Munich along with other talented newcomers.

Regarding the sale of nearly 50% of its production hub, Barcelona said in a statement that "with this investment the strategic partners in Barça Studios show confidence in the value of the project and the future of digital content in the world of sport."

It also comes with Barcelona yet to register its new signings with the Spanish league. Barcelona opens the season on Saturday at home against Rayo Vallecano.

Thanks to the money it has made by selling its assets, Barcelona has been able to strengthen its squad by signing Lewandowski, winger Raphinha and defender Jules Koundé for a combined 160 million euros ($165 million).

But the Spanish league has strict financial requirements that limit the amount clubs can spend on players' salaries and transfers based on the clubs' financial health. Despite efforts to reduce costs and pay down its debt, Barcelona still holds 1 billion euros ($1 billion) in debt and has seen its salary cap slashed by the league in recent seasons.

So, as of Friday morning, it had not registered Lewandowski, Raphinha, Koundé, free agent arrivals Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen, or Ousmane Dembélé and Sergi Roberto, who both signed new contracts recently after their old ones had expired and so are considered new signings by the league.

This new injection of another 100 million euros should help Barcelona's financial balance that it presents to the league and increase its chances of being able to register all those players.

The club is also pushing to sell players such as Samuel Umtiti and Martin Braithwaite that are either unwanted by coach Xavi Hernández or have big salaries like Frenkie de Jong.

Teams have until the end of the month to register new players if they want to play in the Spanish league this season. Real Betis is also still waiting to register several players.

Barcelona club president Joan Laporta said recently that he was confident that his club will be able to field its latest acquisitions.

But it would be yet another blow to Barcelona’s reputation if its star signings are not able to play at Camp Nou on Saturday.

Orpheus Media is run by Catalan businessman Jaume Roures, the owner of Mediapro, a major television company involved in Spanish football but whose 2020 broadcast rights deal for the French league collapsed. Roures was a major financial backer of Laporta when he returned to run the financially troubled club in 2021.

Roures said on Friday that he was not sure if the money he paid Barcelona would be sufficient.

"The league won’t have any problems with this operation," Roures told Cadena SER radio. "If the 100 million euros are enough, I don’t know. If it isn’t, the (necessary) amount must be close to that."



Chelsea Boss Maresca Hails 'Great Triumph' in Winning Club World Cup

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca lifts the trophy after his team beat Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday's Club World Cup final. ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca lifts the trophy after his team beat Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday's Club World Cup final. ANGELA WEISS / AFP
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Chelsea Boss Maresca Hails 'Great Triumph' in Winning Club World Cup

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca lifts the trophy after his team beat Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday's Club World Cup final. ANGELA WEISS / AFP
Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca lifts the trophy after his team beat Paris Saint-Germain in Sunday's Club World Cup final. ANGELA WEISS / AFP

Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca insisted winning the Club World Cup meant as much as winning the Champions League after his side beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the final of the first edition of FIFA's new competition on Sunday.

"I have the feeling that this competition is going to be as important, if not more important than, the Champions League," said Maresca after adding the trophy to the UEFA Conference League title his team won in May.

Maresca only took over at Chelsea a year ago but was previously on the coaching staff under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City when they won the Champions League in 2023, AFP said.

"I was lucky to be on the coaching staff of a team that won the Champions League a few years ago, but this competition features the best teams in the world and I think we can value it on the same level," said the Italian.

"It is a great triumph for us and it will allow the Chelsea fans to have that on our shirt for the next four years, so it is a source of pride."

Maresca said he instructed his players to go out and take the game to PSG from the off -- they went on to net all three goals in the first half with Cole Palmer netting a brace before Joao Pedro added his name to the scoresheet.

"The message was to let them understand that we were here to win the game and I think in the first 10 minutes we showed them that," Maresca said.

"That set the tone of the game, and then the quality of the players was also important."

England international Palmer was named player of the match after bagging a brace and setting up Joao Pedro's goal.

The 23-year-old therefore lived up to his superstar billing -- his face has appeared on billboards around New York advertising the tournament, alongside the likes of Real Madrid duo Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior.

"To score the goals was a great feeling, as was the way the team showed fire out there -- the gaffer's game plan was spot on," he said.

"I just try to do my job every time I go onto the pitch and hopefully I will continue.

"I have seen the billboards in Times Square and outside Madison Square Garden and it is obviously a nice feeling to be alongside those players," he added.