Laporta confirms Barcelona have activated new €100m economic lever in bid to register Kounde & other new signings

Barcelona are working on registering their new summer signings after raising €100 million (£84m/$102m) through the sale of a 25 per cent stake in Barca Studios, club president Joan Laporta has announced. The Spanish side have already spent big this summer, with €60 million (£40m/$50m) Jules Kounde the latest in a string of new arrivals at Camp Nou.

Barca have been able to alleviate their severe financial woes over the course of the summer through a massive fundraising effort, allowing them to bring in Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich and Raphinha, as well as Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen in free transfers.

What has Laporta said about Barcelona's latest deal?

Barca have released an official statement confirming the sale of a quarter of Barca Studios, which manages the production and commercialisation of the club's media creations, to Socios.com.

Socios is a platform that sells "fan tokens" of certain clubs with the aim of helping supporters influence decisions within the teams.

President Laporta announced at a press conference that the club will use the increased capital to register the likes of Kounde and Lewandowski.

"You know that we have proceeded to sell 25 per cent of Barca Studios for €100 million to socios.com," he said as Kounde was unveiled as their newest signing.

"If we add up all these amounts that represent a significant income and we understand that we are doing our homework and we will be able to register the players."

He added: "We are optimistic. We are doing everything possible to register [the new signings]. I hope that the interpretation that we make is the same as that of La Liga."

What are Barcelona's other economic levers?

The new deal is not the first Barca have signed to raise more money this summer to cut away at the €1.2 billion (£1.1b/$1.5b) debt they announced earlier this year.

The Camp Nou side initially raised €267m (£229m/$277m) from the sale of 10 per cent of their La Liga television rights to global investment firm Sixth Street Partners, followed by a further 15 per cent to bring in €315m (£268m/$320m) more.

Those deals allowed them to complete the €59m (£50m/$59m) signing of Raphinha from Leeds and the  €50m (£42m/$51m) arrival of Lewandowski from Bayern Munich.

Furthermore, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen were signed from AC Milan and Chelsea respectively in free transfers, while Ousmane Dembele agreed to commit to a new contract.

Barca could make another effort to bring in more capital by selling 49.9% of Barca Licensing and Merchandising (BLM), the organisation which handles the club's retail and marketing.

Who else could Barcelona sign this summer?

The Camp Nou team have been linked with a move for Manchester City star Bernardo Silva over the course of the summer.

Asked about Barca's chances of signing the Portugal international, Laporta said: "First we have to register the signed players. Then we'll see what we can do if the coach asks for more reinforcements."

The prospect of bringing Lionel Messi back to the Spanish side has also been raised again recently, as both Laporta and coach Xavi admitted that they want him to return to Catalunya.

But the president stopped short of confirming a move for him on Monday, saying: "I'm not going to comment on it because he's a PSG player. I'm not going to comment any more. I think Barca has a moral debt with Leo and we'll see, we remember him."

Advertisement