Barcelona’s well-publicized financial woes have significantly limited their spending over the last year. The club spent less than €5 million in the recent summer transfer window, relying on player sales to help their financial troubles.
Barcelona, on the other hand, is now facing a substantial financial commitment in the coming months. They are need to pay Leeds United £21 million before the start of the January transfer window. This payment is part of the agreed-upon instalment plan for Raphinha’s transfer to Barcelona in the summer of 2022.
The Blaugrana side obtained Raphinha‘s talents in the summer of 2022 in a rumoured €60 million deal, beating out competition from Arsenal and Chelsea. Given their financial difficulties, Barcelona agreed to pay a part of the transfer before the end of this year and it looks like that is due now.
Making a large payment at this point is not ideal for Barcelona. It remains to be seen whether their capacity to do transfer activity during the forthcoming January transfer window would be impacted by this financial commitment. To negotiate these difficult circumstances, the club may need to carefully manage its funds.
For Leeds, this will be a much-needed financial input following the relegation back into the Championship followed by some low free transfer outs.
