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Barca can escape financial hole – President
FC Barcelona’s financial issues were laid bare by the club President on Monday (August 14).Joan Laporta told a news conference the club ended last year with a loss of $531 million.He also said the club’s debts stood at around $1.6 billion – with about $792 million of that owed to banks.Despite such large sums, Laporta believes the club will be financially healthy in the near future.”Time? ….Well, we are all tightening our belt, we are all ready to work. We have now caught a breather for a year and a half, but I reckon that in a couple of years the club will be healthy.”Barcelona’s finances are in dire straight due to years of wage inflation and expensive transfers.They even recently lost club icon Lionel Messi this month as they were unable to afford to renew his contract.The Argentinian – widely seen as one of the world’s greatest ever players – moved to Paris St. Germain.But Laporta remains optimistic for the future and claimed the club had many options open to it.He said 17 investors are interested in Barca Studios – which groups together the club’s audiovisual businesses and serves as a hub for events.Recently Barcelona have been a leading club in trying to form the European Super League – an idea that other major clubs soon gave up on.Last week, Barca, along with rivals Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao, also opted out of a planned multibillion euro investment in Spain’s top soccer league LaLiga.Laporta argued the deal would ‘mortgage the club’s television rights for the next 50 years’.