Barcelona still 'owe' four clubs money for five different signings over the years
Barcelona still owe €144 million to four different clubs for five players, according to reports.
The Catalan giants still have financial woes despite their massive spending spree this past summer, which totalled £137 million.
Economic levers were activated to sign and register players, while they sold a fair few to shift their massive wages.
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According to Laia Tudel, Barcelona still have to shell out on a few big purchases they've made throughout the years.
Philippe Coutinho was Barcelona's record signing back 2017 and the club still owe Liverpool €14 million, despite the Brazil international now playing for Aston Villa.
Coutinho never settled at the Camp Nou and spent a season on loan at Bayern Munich. He scored twice against his parent club in THAT 8-2 Champions League win two years ago.
Barcelona signed two players from Ajax within 18 months of one another, Frenkie de Jong and Sergino Dest.
De Jong signed a contract with Barcelona in January 2019 before making an official move that summer.
Dest, meanwhile, became the first USMNT star to represent Barcelona in La Liga after putting pen to paper in October 2020.
It's said Barcelona owe €32 million of de Jong's fee and €10 million of Dest's. De Jong was linked with a move to Manchester United in the summer, while Dest joined AC Milan on loan with an option to buy on deadline day.
Miralem Pjanic arrived from Juventus in a deal which also saw Arthur Melo move to Turin. Pjanic was never fancied by former manager Ronald Koeman and spent last season on loan with Bestikas in Turkey.
Upon returning, he featured for Barcelona in pre-season before sealing a move to Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
Barcelona included Arthur in a deal for Pjanic to reduce the immediate financial cost. Two years on, they still need to pay back €36 million.
The final player on the list is Ferran Torres, who arrived from Manchester City in January. Barcelona were in danger of missing out on Champions League qualification and decided to sign Torres to bolster their attack.
He's since slipped down the pecking order following the arrival of Raphinha, starting just two league games this term.
It's a substantial part of Torres' fee which needs paying, €52 million to be exact.
Despite that, it isn't all doom and gloom for the Blaugrana. They've yet to receive €10 million from Villa for Coutinho in addition to a loan fee from Wolverhampton Wanderers for Francisco Trincao.
Daniel Marland