The drama by Eric García

The candidate for the presidency of FC Barcelona Joan Laporta, this Thursday.Alejandro García / EFE

The Barcelona Management Commission has ruled out incorporating a player like Eric García into the winter market who seemed willing to play for free until the end of the season and whose cost in the current financial year 2020-2021 could have been 230,000 euros.

Despite being a request from coach Ronald Koeman, the Barça club rectors did not want to take risks after the three candidates for the March 7 elections, Joan Laporta, Víctor Font and Toni Freixa, have not agreed on the conditions for the return of the central defender trained at La Masia and current Manchester City player.

Laporta even threatened by letter to the president of the manager, Carles Tusquets, with legal measures if he exceeded his functions with decisions that could compromise the viability of the club, such as signing a defender who is released at the end of the season and, therefore, the cost of which will be zero on June 30, 2021. Although the former president lowered his tone this Thursday with a new letter to Tusquets in which he reminded him of the limits of the manager, but also regrets that his suggestions and "warnings in good faith ”are understood as threats;

He also explains that he will always have "a constructive attitude in order that these elections go as well as possible."

Freixa, on the other hand, was equally suspicious of an operation proposed by Font, a friend and former partner of Ferran Soriano, City's executive director.

The English club agreed to negotiate the transfer for three million more variables that would not be counted until next season and, therefore, now only the money corresponding to the amortization of the signing of Eric García would have to be faced.

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At the end of the day, deferred payments have already been applied to the Barça squad since the end of last year, in the time of former president Josep Maria Bartomeu.

The players, however, are not up-to-date with payments and the club recognizes that there will be problems paying the March payroll, just when the elected president will send audits of accounts published last Monday by Barça itself.

The short-term debt amounts to 730 million, the negative working capital is 602 million, the salary mass soared to 74% and the total liabilities stood at 1,173 million.

The lack of liquidity may force the club to request a loan of 100 million.

The effects of the covid-19 have finished off some accounts made up for a long time with questionable operations such as the exchanges of Pjanic and Arthur or Cillessen and Neto.

The situation is so serious that even one-off market negotiations such as hiring Eric García cannot be faced.

The announcement of signings is no longer the lure of the electoral campaign to focus the debate on the way that Barça has to re-float such a critical moment, much more delicate than the one it already lived in 2003 at the end of the mandate of Joan Gaspart and the arrival of Laporta, later submitted in 2010 to a liability action by the Sandro Rosell board.

Some economic analysts have coincided in diagnosing that Barcelona will have no choice but to transfer one of its figures, an end that forces them to face Messi's continuity in case he decides to continue and renew his contract that ends in June if he has in account that charges about 100 million gross according to

Football Leaks

.

The three candidates rule out, for now, doing without any emblematic player.

They hope to arrive in time to negotiate the best solution with Messi, they boast of the club's heritage and agree that Barça will never be transformed into a sports limited liability company (SAD).

Laporta, Font and Freixa speak in their programs to negotiate debt, control spending and get more income when the day on which the stadium doors will be open is not even known - it is estimated that it will stop entering 520 million in March 2020 to June 2021—.

None are scared by the club's numbers, all three claim to have the necessary resources to be able to guarantee 15% of the budget —more than 120 million—, without knowing its origin or if there are against guarantees, and all emphasize the ability to their economic teams to reactivate an entity that is also pending Espai Barça, which includes the necessary remodeling of the Camp Nou.

Laporta, who has Jaume Giró, former general director of the LaCaixa Foundation, wants to carefully examine the Goldman Sachs proposal processed by the Bartomeu board to finance the Espai Barça precisely and is equally interested in the Barça Innovation Hub project as well as in the platform of content Barça Studios.

The novelty of his proposal is in the issuance of regulated debt to alleviate treasury tensions and gain liquidity: some bonds would be intended for fans and others would be institutional for investors.

In no case, would they give property rights to the club or influence decision-making, it is clarified since Laporta's candidacy.

Font rules out the option of bonds and bets on a shock plan for the first hundred days, advocates refinancing the short-term debt with the banks and proposes restructuring the salary mass while being in favor of monetizing the 400 million fans that Barça has.

Freixa also opposes the bonuses and defends the terms of Espai Barça.

Prudence is imposed because no candidate wants to lose chances of victory after the electoral race has lasted until March 7, when the vote was scheduled for January 24.

The dates did not alter, in any case, the request of Koeman, who wanted a central defender and the Dutch striker Depay, from Lyon.

It is up to the coach to square as best a team that aspires to win the Cup, can compete in the Champions League and is among the top four in LaLiga.

The drama would be terrible if Barça did not qualify for the next edition of the European Cup after Bartomeu announced that the club is registered for the Super League.

The former president's legacy has been ruinous since the 222 million charged for Neymar's escape to PSG were wasted.

It also happened to Gaspart in 2000 with the 10,000 million pesetas (62 million euros) collected for Figo's move to Madrid.

The circumstances, however, are different, because the resources to lift Barça have diminished.

Today he cannot even sign Eric García.

From the transfer of Luis Suárez to Inter to the signing of Félix and Tarrés

Barça transferred Luis Suárez to Inter in 1961 for the record figure of 204,000 euros to combat the debt generated by the construction of the Camp Nou in 1957. That was one of the most critical moments for the club along with the one lived in 1925 by the closure governor for six months of Les Corts.

A sanction that was exceeded by the collaboration of the partners and players, equally decisive for the entity to go back during the civil war (1936-1939).

The Berne-1961 final opened a very delicate period until Johan Cruyff's stage as a footballer, from 1973 to 1978, the year in which Josep Lluís Núñez became president.

The president imposed himself to clean up the accounts and contain the expenses with transfers such as those of Félix (Elche) and Tarrés (Burgos) although later he hired Krankl (Rapid Vienna) for 421,000 euros after litigating with Valencia.

Núñez's legacy was poorly managed by Gaspart until Laporta won the 2003 elections. Rosell discussed the 2010 accounts and today they are debating the risk of bankruptcy after Bartomeu's departure.