The completion of the stadium was delayed, the signing was forced to be relegated, the commercial match was cancelled... Barcelona, who was short of money, has a lot of trouble

Reprinted from: Yangtze Evening News

On July 24, the winger of La Liga giants Barcelona signed a "soap opera" and the team officially announced the loan franchise of English player Rashford. However, just as fans were still talking about whether the "master" was suitable for the Red and Blue Army, Barcelona immediately announced the cancellation of the Japanese station of this summer's commercial match. In connection with the helplessness that the Gambel Cup was unable to be successfully held in the New Nou Camp, the La Liga giants' operations this summer can only be described as a mess.

The new season is coming, and the Camp Nou is still under construction. In this summer's transfer window, Barcelona's primary goal was originally Nico Williams of Athletic Bilbao. As early as last summer, Nico expressed his willingness to join, but failed to make a move for various reasons. In June this year, its agent took the initiative to contact Barcelona to restart negotiations. For the sake of the young Spanish winger, Barcelona even gave up negotiations with Louis Diaz. Seeing that the transaction was about to be concluded, Nico's broker suddenly requested to join the clause "if you cannot register, you can terminate the contract for free", which directly led to the deadlock in the negotiations. In early July, when Nico announced his contract extension with Athletic Bilbao until 2035, Barcelona's signing plan was completely failed and he could only turn his attention to Manchester United's Rashford.

For Barcelona, which is financially tight, introducing Rashford is considered a second-rate option - no transfer fee is required, only part of the salary is required. After multiple rounds of negotiations, Rashford agreed to reduce his salary by 30% and join the season on loan. The contract includes a buyout option of 30 million euros a year later. On July 24, this compromise transaction was finally officially announced, but fans' comments on the signing were mixed, and many people questioned whether Rashford's technical style could be integrated into the Barcelona system. Behind the twists and turns of "spare tire" Rashford joining Barcelona on loan and signings is Barcelona's lingering financial shadow, and the root of all this starts with the postponement of the project at the New Camp Nou Stadium. Barcelona originally planned to host the Gambel Cup in the refurbished new Camp Nou on August 10, making the traditional event an opening match for the new stadium. However, due to the lag in the project, the club was forced to announce the change to the Cruyff Stadium last week. What's even more difficult is that the delayed delivery of the stadium directly hindered VIP seat sales, which was originally expected to be ruined, making the already fragile financial situation worse.

It was raining all night long. Shortly after the news of Rashford joining, Barcelona announced the cancellation of this summer's commercial match Japan. You should know that the Asian Tour was an important "money-making" channel for the team during the offseason, and now the cancellation of the tournament will directly lead to a sharp drop in revenue. Under a series of chain reactions, the media generally worry: Can Barcelona successfully complete the registration procedures for Rashford? It should be noted that the financial scrutiny of La Liga is extremely strict, and any revenue fluctuations may affect player registration qualifications.

From the forced relegation target, to the stadium project dragging down the financial plan, to the cancellation of commercial events, Barcelona's summer has been shrouded in chaos and uncertainty. When the whistle of the new season is about to sound, the La Liga giants are still struggling to register new players and fill financial holes. For Barcelona, how to straighten out this mess in a short period of time will directly determine whether they can get back on track in the new season.

Yangzi Evening News/Zi Niu News reporter Huang Xiyin

Proofreading Sheng Yuanyuan