The coronavirus pandemic has forced football matches to be played behind closed doors, leagues around the world to shut down, and forced international tournaments to be postponed. The financial impact of this health crisis will be significant.
The loss of revenue will likely impact smaller clubs greatly but those at the top of the food chain aren’t immune.
According to sources at FC Barcelona who spoke to ESPN, the club is bracing for a substantial loss of money that will impact the caliber of players they can sign this summer.
Barcelona has reportedly circled Neymar Jr. and Inter Milan’s Lautaro Martinez as their two top summer transfer targets and would like to add an additional three players to revamp their squad according to the ESPN report.
However, ticket sales, television revenue, and merchandising income are all expected to drop precipitously and it doesn’t really matter if the La Liga season and UEFA Champions League can be salvaged at this point. The writing is on the wall as they say.
One unnamed executive at Barcelona told ESPN that they believe prices this summer for players will be a bit more reasonable but they still may not be low enough to be affordable for those impacted the most.
With PSG rumored to want at least €150 million for Neymar and Barcelona’s impending financial issues, it’s looking more likely than not that the Brazilian will remain in the French capital for another season at least. After his two-goal performance against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League Round of 16, that’s a very good thing.
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