Lionel Messi’s highly anticipated return to Barcelona is in doubt after the club failed to find a deal with La Liga over financial sanctions imposed on the club.
According to Spanish publication Sport, the Blaugrana chiefs Joan Laporta and Mateo Alemany will have to find a way to balance the books after their appeal fell on La Liga’s deaf ears.
Barca’s well-documented financial turmoil has forced the Spanish football association to put the brakes on their transfer dealings until further notice, preventing the club from signing new players.
Sanctions go beyond just new arrivals, as the Catalan powerhouse cannot renew contracts to players on their payroll due to a substantial debt, which has put the squeeze on the club’s finances.
A significant discrepancy between the club’s income and expenses has reached a point of no return, forcing La Liga to take drastic measures to contain the damage and stave off the imbalance’s further growth.
Despite Laporta’s utmost effort to lift the ban, the runaway La Liga leaders have no choice but to whittle down the club’s expenses by a minimum of €200 million to weather the storm.
It seems that the Barcelona officials are aware of the gravity of the situation, yet fulfiling La Liga’s request appears to be a tall order, with desperation starting to catch up with the Spotify Camp Nou hierarchy.
Getting the balance back under control is the only way for the Catalans to proceed with their bid to strengthen their squad in the upcoming transfer window.
The embargo has thrown Messi’s touted reunion with Barcelona into doubt, but ramifications of the current financial state of the club stretch to other deals as well.
Barcelona were said to be on the verge of landing Inigo Martinez from Athletic Bilbao on a Bosman transfer, with Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan also closely followed by the Spanish giants.
However, those deals are now at risk, with the same going for Barca’s hopes of tying Gavi and Ronald Araujo to new long-term contracts.
