Barcelona in worse financial state that I expected, proclaims Joan Laporta

With Barcelona reportedly in a gross debt of €1.2 billion, it has affected the club immensely with them struggling to cope in a world without fans. However, despite their gross debt, the La Liga giants have still somehow managed to keep going on with them signing four new players including Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero. However, all their moves have been free transfers with the club struggling to shell out any transfer fees so far.

However, they have been reportedly linked with a move for Aymeric Laporte but in light of the rumours, Joan Laporta has revealed that Barcelona’s debt is even worse than he first thought. The Barcelona president further admitted that their squad needs to be sliced down with the salaries and it will see the club struggle going forward. 

"The club's in a worse state than I expected -- and I knew I was coming into a difficult situation. There are contracts which condition how much we can do. There are things that must be explained [by the previous board] and I don't rule out taking some sort of action. We will explain everything because if not, we will be complicit," Laporta told La Vanguardia.

"We've encountered a squad with old-fashioned contracts and we will have to work out what to do. The existing contracts can be changed or restructured. After that, there are more drastic measures that we hope we don't have to adopt.

"But nothing's ruled out if it's for the good of the club. Between salaries and amortisations, it's about €650m , which is more than the club's revenue. These salaries are out-of-step with the current market,” he added.