Marathon day that was lived yesterday at the Camp Nou. The FC Barcelona board of directors met from 2:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Despite being an ordinary meeting, the issues that were discussed at the table in the Roma room of the stadium were rather extraordinary in nature, in which important aspects for the immediate future of the entity were defined, such as the Negreira case, sponsorship agreements , the first team’s summer tour of Japan and the women’s tour of Mexico, which have already begun to take shape, and of course the financing of Espai Barça.
The Barcelona board of directors yesterday gave its approval to the financing, worth 1,500 million euros, of the Espai Barça and hopes to obtain this Friday the approval of the investors so that in the summer the works of the Camp Nou and the your entire environment. Sources from the Blaugrana club assure that the next 24 hours are decisive since the entity and also the investors that Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan have recruited were set as the end of March and today is the last day of the month. The intention is to close this financing as planned from the beginning of the negotiations, as La Vanguardia has been reporting, that is, with three tranches of 500 million and with an initial interest of 6 percent, although the club insists on being able to refinance it from the fifth year, with the aim that this rate can be lowered and renegotiated once the new stadium is up and running and the club can begin to repay the borrowed money.
The delicate economic situation of Barça and the instability of the financial market caused some executives to raise the possibility of postponing the project until the panorama of the banking and investment sector improves, but finally they opted to achieve the objective set for financing. In fact, the club communicated yesterday afternoon to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) that its first team will play its home matches next season at the Estadi OlÃmpic LluÃs Companys in Montjuïc, information that the federation must notify, to in turn, to UEFA. Meanwhile, in Montjuïc the starts have already begun to accommodate the installation to the needs of Barcelona. The board approved that the next Joan Gamper Trophy will already be held on the magic mountain.
The financing of the Espai Barça was not the only subject that was debated. The current situation as a result of the Negreira case was also analyzed. Laporta’s message to his managers was one of calm and tranquility. He pointed out to his managers that they must wait for the internal investigation to end to offer explanations that are expected to arrive after Easter, the date on which an appearance will be announced.
As always when the board of directors meets, the football director Mateu Alemany also attended to explain the measures planned to reduce the 200 million salary mass in the next summer market as requested by LaLiga. This is an essential objective to be able to register the new contracts of players like Gavi. The youth squad player appears again on the LaLiga website as a player in the FC Barcelona squad with a subsidiary file and the number 30. In other words, the situation prior to the adoption of the precautionary measures that were raised by the court.
Regarding future signings, the club still does not want to talk openly about the return of Leo Messi although, if the Argentine needs it, the entity already has a plan outlined with formulas that include an economic proposal according to the delicate situation of the club. In exchange, they would study paying him a percentage of what he would generate. On a commercial level, the board is aware that his return would help to better cope with the year in Montjuïc, where Messi made his debut in an official match on October 16, 2004.
Finally, the renewal of two credit policies with Caixabank and Banco Santander was also approved. In the case of the policy with Caixabank, which expired on April 30, 2023, it is extended until April 30, 2026, with a maximum amount of 17 million euros. The Banco Santander policy, which expired on May 15, 2023, is also extended for three years, until May 15, 2026 with an amount of 32.5 million euros.
