Barcelona could become the first club in history to break through the $1 billion mark in yearly revenue, according to defender Gerard Pique.
The Blaugrana generated a record $688 million in revenue last year, overtaking bitter Spanish rivals Real Madrid to emerge as the second most valuable football team behind Manchester United.
Barca have flexed their financial muscles over the last two transfer windows to bring in both Ousmane Dembele and Philippe Coutinho, although those deals were largely offset by the world-record exit of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.
But Pique, who has previously declared his desire to one day become the club’s president, believes the Catalan giants will continue to swell their vast sources of revenue, which in the face of rising wage costs will take on even greater significance.
“It’s true that it has been a big (wages) inflation in the last few years,” he told Fortune in an exclusive interview.
“Football is growing and every time there are more people following this sport. TV rights are very important and right now because of the internet, because of streaming, because of companies like Amazon, Facebook, etc., they want to buy the TV rights of La Liga, of the Champions League.
“They are bidding to get these rights. This means more money for leagues. And more money for clubs.
“Barcelona is increasing their budget every year. Right now we are at €700m (about $866 million a year). When I arrived here 10 years ago maybe it was half of this. They are expected we will be at $1 billion, in 2020, 2021.”
According to the latest figures, PSG are the only club in the world with a bigger wage bill than Barca with the Spanish side shelling out £264m per year.
However, Pique is adamant the exponential expenditure is a necessity if the club are to compete for top honours.
In-depth conversation with @Mascherano before he said goodbye to Barcelona.
— Gerard Piqué (@3gerardpique) January 30, 2018
Full episode --> https://t.co/YidyKKA7xI pic.twitter.com/pM1FqN3QAM
“There will be a point I think where this increase will be lower, and we will keep growing, but not as quick as we are doing right now,” the 31-year-old added.
“And then I think is when clubs will realise that maybe it is enough to pay as much as we are doing now in salaries.
“But if you want to keep talent, and you want to keep the best players in the world in your club, we have to compete with all the other clubs that they are investing. They are offering much more money. And we have to be with the same numbers as them.”
