Barcelona will seek approval from the club’s members for a cash injection of up to €700 million ($750m) to help overhaul the squad this summer, sources have confirmed to ESPN.
The Catalan club announced on Tuesday that they will hold an extraordinary assembly on June 16 for members to vote on the potential sales of Barca Licensing & Merchandising [BLM] and future television rights.
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Barca say they want “authorisation for the acquisition by one or more investors of a minority stake in the social capital of the BLM business (up to 49.9%).”
They are also asking for members to allow them to sell “up to 25% of income for the exploitation of television rights corresponding to [LaLiga] to one or more investors.”
Members will be provided with more information on June 3 and then, 13 days later, will be able to vote electronically on whether to grant the club permission to sell off the assets.
Sources have told ESPN the sale of a stake in BLM could bring in around €200m ($214m), while the club’s television rights could bring in as much as €500m ($536m) depending on the final terms and lengths of the potential deals.
The sources add that while there are drawbacks long-term — the club will make less from merchandising sales and television rights for the duration of the agreements — there is a belief that the cash injection is essential to fix the club’s current financial problems.
Barca are currently working with a spending cap of -€144m, the only negative limit in LaLiga, and the sales would allow them to increase that cap and invest in the squad this summer.
President Joan Laporta has previously said if Barcelona can pull off all the financial operations they are working on, there will be no need for “painful sales” this summer as they seek to improve coach Xavi Hernandez’s squad.
Members have already approved the sale of 49% of Barca Studios and negotiations continue with regard to selling a stake in the club’s in-house production company, which is separate to the €700m.
Barca have already agreed deals to sign Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen and AC Milan midfielder Franck Kessie this summer on free transfers, while they’re also working on the transfer of Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, among others.
LaLiga president Javier Tebas said on Tuesday that Barca are not in a position to sign Lewandowski, who has expressed a desire to leave Bayern, but Laporta responded later in the day by telling him to keep his nose out of the club’s business.
“I would ask Tebas to abstain from making comments about if Barca can sign a player or not,” Laporta said. “He’s quite clearly harming Barca’s interests.
“I don’t know if he’s making these comments voluntarily or involuntarily. If voluntarily, it’s a clear sign that he wants to damage the club’s interests. If not, it’s further proof of his verbal incontinence and desire for prominence.”