Barcelona have demonstrated they possess the necessary resources to make another big-money move in the transfer market by announcing record income figures of ¤530 million (Dh2.6bn) for the 2013-14 campaign.
So far this summer the Catalan club have already spent ¤143m (Dh704.5m) – more than any other club in Europe – to bring Luis Suarez, Ivan Rakitic, Jeremy Mathieu, Claudio Bravo and Marc Andre ter Stegen to the Nou Camp.
But their spending spree may not yet be over. Coach Luis Enrique keen to sign another central defender with Liverpool’s Daniel Agger and Paris Saint-Germain’s Marquinhos in the frame.
Another target is Colombian international winger Juan Cuadrado, whose current club Fiorentina have indicated they would accept an offer in the region of ¤50m (Dh246.3m).
In addition to the new income record of ¤530m, vice president Javier Faus also revealed the club had registered profits of ¤41m (Dh201.9m) – second only to the ¤49m (Dh241.3m) achieved in the 2011-12 season.
Those figures helped reduce the club’s debts to ¤287m (Dh1.4bn), significantly down from the eye-watering total of ¤431m (Dh2.1bn) inherited by the current board when they took power in 2010.
Although those four years have also seen Barca suffer an unquestionable deterioration on the field, Faus believes the work of the board – initially led by Sandro Rosell and now by Josep Maria Bartomeu – has enhanced the club’s status on the global stage.
“We are much stronger and we feel we have a greater presence around the world than we did four years ago,” he said. “We used to have more debts than assets and we have managed to turn things around. We have grown more than any other club in the world.”
One of the club’s summer signings, Croatian star Rakitic, says he is ready for the challenge of establishing a regular place in a midfield already containing Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and – for the moment – Xavi.
The former Sevilla captain has been a versatile performer throughout his career, capable of operating in a deep-lying playmaking role or in a more advanced goalscoring position, and he believes those options will help his case in persuading Enrique to name him in the team.
“I can sense what a big move I’ve made and I am ready to do whatever the coach asks,” he said.
“Where the team is happier is where I am happier. I need to give 100 per cent in whatever position the boss plays me. He knows me perfectly well and will make his decisions.”
Although the majority of the attention this coming season will be focused on Barca’s forward line of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Suarez, Rakitic added: “They’re the best three players in the world but three players don’t make a team. We will all have our roles.”
