Posted by Barcelona’s president, Joan Laporta, revealed the full extent of the club’s reckless spending when he revealed the club’s overall debt to be €1.35 billion (£1.15 billion) yesterday.
Laporta stated that the club had overspent on wages and transfers, taken out high-interest “payday loans,” and paid €8 million (£6.87 million) to a talent-spotting intermediary in South America.
He detailed a culture of excessive spending under former president Josep Maria Bartomeu, which Laporta claimed prevented the club from offering Lionel Messi a new deal.
Source: The Times