Barca Lever Situation funnier than Johnny Lever ?
The recent financial woes of Barcelona have been widely documented extensively by both those who follow the sport as well as by those in finance as well as being covered on a surface level by the general media alike. While the supporters have expressed their worries, the neutrals are on the fence who watched and are still watching each new development with great interest. Those who are not particularly fond of the Catalan based entity are having a gala time laughing themselves beyond belief making endless memes and having cannon fodder for days to achieve the higher ground.
But as far as the overall effect of this situation is concerned, the fall of such an institutional giant is worrying. Even though they would not be receiving their metaphorical obituaries that many doomsayers had spelled out for, they had indeed become a laughing stock and are still mocked to this day. Although the clamour seems to have died down a bit. But even if all bias is removed from the situation, the spot that the actions of FC Barcelona are logically baffling and a tragic comedy in of itself. Their situation reminds one of this meme below and is literally taking money from your future and gambling on the fact that your present gains will result success which could potentially generate surplus in the future to make any sense of this lever model.
But the fact that a club mismanaged their finances, especially after the sale of Neymar to PSG is more indicative of a lottery winner than of a group of people responsible for running one of the most well known Footballing Institutions across the world. Although the lever ploy has successfully led them to build a solid team for this season which managed to qualify for the champions league, relying on their goodwill to play for relative peanuts. In the long term it would not get you that prestigious top spot and a shock off season can put Barcelona back to square one, even worse if other bailout packages like the Nike deal and their studios being finally sold of to a buyer who will actually bring in the money does not end up transpiring.
Even if the players can be convinced to take huge pay cuts in the name of legacy, the real problem is their debt which reportedly has to be paid within the five years. And their financial moves do not seem to be promising as the new bailouts just seem to be replacing old lenders with new lenders and kicking than can down the road and hoping another pep like era can wash away all their financial sins.
Although they seem to be closer to the balancing the books, the reputational damage which can become a roadblock in attracting superstars could potentially be very heavy. Among all this chaos there could be a silver lining as they are being forced to use more of their La Masia graduates which is their true club DNA. However reverting back to type might be the most beneficial decision for all parties concerned, unless you are someone who survives make jokes and memes out of the financial state of affairs of a certain Catalan based club.
Cover Credits - The New York Times
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