It’s October 2020. FC Barcelona, the world-renowned soccer club from Catalonia, faces an existential financial threat. President of FC Barcelona, Josep Bartomeu, has just resigned rather than face a no confidence vote from club members. Barcelona, teetering on the brink of financial collapse, turn to one man to turn things around both athletically and financially: Joan Laporta. Laporta, a former President of Barcelona and one-time member of the Catalan Parliament, was best known for three things during his tenure: 1. Cutting Barcelona’s debt in the early and mid 2000s; 2. Giving La Masia players first-team chances; and 3. Laporta’s own ego and media obsession. In October 2020, Barcelona faced a financial situation similar to the situation it faced in the early 2000s: saddled with enormous debt and on the brink of financial ruin. Laporta was the obvious choice to take over from Bartomeu in 2020, and many (myself included) believed Laporta would do what he did previously as President: cut costs, play La Masia players who had first-team quality, and hog as much media attention as possible. So far, only the hogging media attention has come to fruition.
Laporta’s Ego-Driven Spending Spree
Laporta has failed miserably to cut costs during his tenure and has even potentially threatened Barcelona’s long-term financial health due to his short-sighted spending. Each season, Barcelona has endured very public player registration issues. There was the 2022 registration issue, where Barcelona was initially unable to register Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, and Robert Lewandowski. Laporta, after spending €95 million in transfer fees for Kounde and Lewandowski, had to sell a portion of Barcelona’s production company, Barca Studios, to a private equity firm for approximately €100 million just to register the three players so they could play for Barcelona that season. In Summer 2023, Barcelona was once again in the headlines with a registration issue, this time struggling to register defender Inigo Martinez, who arrived on a free transfer from Athletic Bilbao. Barcelona’s financial situation was so desperate that in order to register a player arriving on a free transfer, the club had to loan out two players, Ansu Fati and Eric Garcia, just to make room for Inigo Martinez’s wages.
Astonishingly, Laporta did not learn his lesson in Summer 2023, as the same very public Barcelona registration issues continued in Summer 2024. In June 2024, reports surfaced that nine of Barcelona’s players, including La Masia graduates on comparatively low wages, were in danger of not being registered for the 2024-2025 La Liga season. Laporta’s solution: spend another €55 million on another transfer, this time for Spain’s 2024 Euros star and former La Masia player Dani Olmo. To come up with the €55 million sum necessary for the transfer while in dire financial straits, Laporta had the gall to ask Inigo Martinez to cut his wages. After the transfer, Barcelona was initially unable to register Dani Olmo, causing Olmo to miss Barcelona’s first to games of the season. Barcelona was only able to register Dani Olmo after selling Mikayil Faye, letting club legend and La Masia graduate Sergi Roberto leave on a free, and loaning out Vitor Roque and Clement Lenglet.
Barcelona’s registration issues once again played out publicly in the Winter 2025 transfer window. Barcelona attempted to register Pau Victor and Dani Olmo for the second half of Barcelona’s 2024/2025 campaign. These registrations were rejected by the RFEF and La Liga because they would exceed the club’s salary cap. Barcelona appealed this decision to the Consejo Superior de Deportes (Spanish Sports Council) which, at the time of writing, allowed Barcelona to temporarily register Olmo and Victor. However, if Barcelona had received an adverse ruling, a clause in Olmo’s contract would have allowed him to leave the club on a free transfer. Barcelona would have watched as its former academy player (and €55 million signing just six months prior) walk away from the club for nothing. In other words, Laporta, who was brought in to fix the financial situation and get the club going in the right direction, would have blown a €55 million hole in the Barcelona balance sheet in just six months. Without any amortization or other creative accounting possibilities, this would exacerbate Barcelona’s already dire financial situation. If past is prologue, we are set for more “Barcelona registration crisis” headlines in Summer 2025.
The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result. These financial decisions are moves of desperation by a man addicted to spending, not moves by a man with the club’s best long-term interest at heart, even if it means the club is less competitive for a short period of time. The ever-egotistical Laporta is mortgaging Barcelona’s future to continue to spend in the present.
La Masia Graduates
Laporta has also failed to incorporate La Masia graduates in to the Barcelona squad as a potential cost-cutting measure. In Laporta’s first term as President, to cut costs, Barcelona kept a select few high earners (Ronaldinho, Rafa Marquez, Thiago Motta) while allowing others (Deco, Patrick Kluivert, Samuel Eto’o, and Edmilson) to leave in order to balance the books. To fill in the gaps, Barcelona was forced to use La Masia players in its first-team. This gave various club legends a chance to play and flourish. Those that flourished include Spanish World Cup winners Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Victor Valdes, and Carles Puyol, as well as La Masia’s most famous graduate and Argentina World Cup winner Lionel Messi. Barcelona, and Laporta, used these players because there was no other option – the survival of the club depended on making these cost cutting measures.
While Laporta has allowed some incorporation of La Masia players into the senior team this season, this incorporation was mostly out of desperation. Inaki Pena, the starting keeper, would still be sitting on the bench if not for Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s season-ending injury. Even then, Laporta opted to sign the recently-retired Wojciech Szczesny as competition for the starting spot rather than giving young players like Ander Astralaga or Diego Kochen a chance. Outfield players like Fermin Lopez and Marc Casado have essentially forced their way into the rotation through sheer merit of their performances (when given the opportunity) and a crowded season fixture schedule.
Furthermore, Laporta has sold some of Barcelona’s youth players to fuel his abovementioned spending spree. Players like Marc Guiu, Mikayil Faye, Chadi Riad, Abde, and Nico Gonzalez have been sent packing for minimal fees to get every possible euro for this spending spree. Some of these players may not have ever been first team contributors, but selling promising academy players before they have had an opportunity to show whether they can be first team contributors is not the answer. Bringing in players making €4 million, €5 million, or €6+ million per year to replace these academy players, many of whom make ~€500,000 or less, is not the fiscally responsible answer. Selling young academy players who could be contributors or starters and bringing in expensive players to replace them…just another example of Laporta mortgaging Barcelona’s future for its present.
Laporta the Liar
As if the above spending sprees and financial desperation was not enough, Laporta has not been honest with either the Blaugrana fan base or the press about Barcelona’s financial situation. Throughout the 2024/2025 season, Laporta has made statements indicating Barcelona’s financial situation would be improved and that transfer signings and registration would proceed as normal. In September 2024, Laporta stated the club would be able to sign and register players “as normal” in the January transfer window. In October 2024, Laporta stated the club didn’t have to “scratch our pockets,” conveniently forgetting the start summer signing, Dani Olmo, was unable to play to first two games of the season due to registration issues. On January 4, 2025, as the winter transfer window opened and less than 24 hours after the Olmo-Victor registration effort was rejected due to salary cap issues, Spanish papers reported Laporta was planning to spend during the winter transfer window, stating “Laporta wants to reinforce his squad no matter what” in January. With what funds – both in terms of transfer funds and salary cap space – was not clear.
Despite these very public financial issues which have hampered Barcelona for multiple years now, Laporta continues to tell the press that Barcelona is financial sound when multiple other sporting body in Spain, RFEF and La Liga, say otherwise. Even the temporary registration ruling for Olmo and Victor, rather than normal registration, indicates that Barcelona’s finances are not healthy.
The Answer
Though it pains me to say this because I believed he was the right person to run the club at the time, the answer is simple: Laporta out. Consistently struggling season after season to register players, and using every cent La Liga will allow you to spend (and some they won’t allow) on transfer fees and high salaries instead of responsibly managing the club’s debt is not a sustainable way to run a club. A guess: Laporta does not want to be seen as someone who returned for a second term as Barcelona president and allowed the quality of the team to slip. His ego would be bruised, and the well-documented desire for praise in the Catalonian papers he so desperately wants would vanish. But Barcelona has a motto: “mes que un club.” It means more than a club in Catalan, and it is exactly that. FC Barcelona is an institution that brings the community joy. There are social and culture implications associated with the club, be it support for Catalan independence or as a source of inspiration for local artists, writers, musicians and actors. These, from Salvador Dali etchings to published works to “The unarmed army of Catalonia,” exist because the club is more than a club, it is a culture institution. Maybe Laporta can cut more deals with more private equity firms to sell off pieces of the club to continue his unbridled spending spree, but each deal impacts the cultural value of the institution. No one person comes before the club or the cultural institution that it is, and with Laporta at the helm, that cultural institution is headed toward insolvency and financial ruin.
#LaportaOut
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