The reason to let Messi go? FC Barcelona has run in debts and owes this fortune

It is already known Barcelona is struggling in the Spanish La Liga with a squad that’s nowhere near as competitive as it tended to be in the past. Their emblem, Lionel Messi, seems set to leave on a free transfer by the end of the season, despite the Argentine master said he would not like to do it that way. Still, the club’s finances are a big problem and are not helping the situation.

The problem in Barcelona has many aspects that coexist. The financial situation is the base of the whole trouble, but it has a starting point: past transfers. Yes, not only the ones who proved to be bad deals in the past, but also current players. Some members of the current squad have arrived, but the club has still pending payments.

Víctor Font, Joan Laporta and Toni Freixa are the three candidates that will run for President in the upcoming elections to replace Josep María Bartomeu. Whoever wins will face a tough situation. As per Spanish newspaper Marca, the club must confront payments for $886 million, from which $152.93 million come from transfers that have already been done. This could clearly put the Argentine’s renewal in danger.

To name some, the club still has to pay $35 million to Liverpool for Philippe Coutinho, $19.42 million to Ajax for Frenkie De Jong, among some relevant players. But there’s a lot of expenditure for other ones that were never active part of the team. For example, $12 million are pending to pay Girondins Bordeaux for Malcom, $11.65 million to Sporting CP for Francisco Trincao, $10.92 to Betis for Junior Firpo or $9.7 million to Gremio for Arthur Melo.