A window onto Barcelona’s chaotic world, as Sergio Aguero claims club owes him €3m

An interesting document was released to Barcelona socios (club members) this week — a ‘management report’ and summary of the 2023-2024 financial year.

Its 89 pages, seen by The Athletic, offer a window onto the colourful and chaotic way in which the club’s affairs have been handled, both under current president Joan Laporta and in the past. Nothing ever seems simple at Barcelona and nothing ever seems to end, as unresolved past issues regularly return to affect its current situation and complicate future plans.

Let’s dive into some of the key subjects the document touches on — and the details behind them.

Potential legal action from Sergio Aguero

It is striking how many ongoing legal wrangles Barca are involved in (eight, according to the document). One of those mentioned is a claim brought by Sergio Aguero regarding the termination of his contract back in 2021.

In December that year, the Argentine striker announced his enforced retirement from football due to a heart condition at the age of 33. He had joined Barca on a free transfer after leaving Manchester City six months before, signing a two-year contract.

The document released to Barca members this week says Aguero has presented legal papers stating claim to a sum of €3million (£2.5m; $3.3m) he believes the club owes him. The document says Barca are now awaiting communication or instruction from a local court that deals with labour disputes on whether the case will be taken up.

The Athletic contacted Aguero’s representatives for further comment but did not receive a reply. Meanwhile, a Barca spokesperson said they could not add to the details already described in the ‘management report’ this week.

It’s one to keep an eye on.

Agents claiming €10m over Dembele’s PSG transfer

Another of the legal cases listed in the document (due to potential financial implications) is a demand against Barca for €10million from agency Scores Sports Management for negotiating the transfer of Ousmane Dembele to Paris Saint-Germain in August 2023.

Dembele joined Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 for €140million, but rarely showed consistent form at the Camp Nou. In January 2022, Barca tried to force him to accept a transfer, to prevent him leaving on a free when his contract ended the following June.

Dembele playing for PSG against Barca in the Champions League quarter-finals last season (DAX Images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A new two-year extension was agreed that summer, including a €50million release clause. Sources at the time told The Athletic that the deal included a lower wage in exchange for a share of a future transfer fee.

When PSG triggered that clause in August 2023, The Athletic reported that Barca would receive half of the €50million and the player the other €25m.

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An agent who claims to be involved in that transfer has now taken legal action against Barca for €10million they say is owed for their work in the deal. Barca say they have challenged this and the case is ongoing in a local court. The Athletic contacted Scores Sports Management for comment.

‘Barcagate’ spying case continues (and is not close to concluding)

Back in April 2020, some Barca socios initiated a legal complaint claiming an IT consultancy working for the club called I3 Ventures had been using fake social media accounts to polish the images of then-president Josep Maria Bartomeu and his predecessor Sandro Rosell, while criticising their supposed opponents or rivals.

Targets of these ‘troll’ accounts included then-Barca players Lionel Messi and Gerard Pique, club legends Pep Guardiola, Carles Puyol and Xavi, and possible future rival presidential candidates Agusti Benedito and Victor Font.

Former Barca president Bartomeu, pictured in August 2020 (Noelia Deniz/Urbanandsport /NurPhoto via Getty Images)

A judicial investigation into the allegations began in May 2021, just as Laporta returned as Barca president. It led to arrests the following March over alleged misuse of club funds, as Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalan police) officers detained Bartomeu, his former chief of staff Jaume Masferrer, ex-club chief executive Oscar Grau and the club’s former head of legal services Roman Gomez Ponti. They have all denied wrongdoing — as has Rosell and I3 Ventures.

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Barca’s 2023-24 accounts say that the case (widely known as Barcagate, or Bartogate) is still in a “preliminary diligence” phase, and that there is no financial risk to the club, given it is an injured party in the case.

Barca owe €43million to current players

One of the strategies Barca presidents Bartomeu and Laporta have used to deal with the club’s financial issues has been to ask current squad members to defer part of their salaries into the future.

Barca’s accounts show that the club has ‘debts’ to current players of €25million (“long term”) and €18.1m (“short term”). It says these are “primarily signing bonuses” which are still due.

In June 2022, this sum was €59.7million. In June 2023, it was €49.6m. As it is now €43.1m, it could be said to be heading in the right direction.

Barca still paying for European Super League

The documents also show that Barca are still an official shareholder in the European Super League. Its accounts put a value of €2million on the club’s share of the company continuing to try and organise a continental competition outside UEFA’s control.

Barca and Real Madrid are the only two of the original 12 clubs who remain committed to the project, which was launched in April 2021 but almost immediately fell apart after dramatic fan protests in England.

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez and Laporta in Madrid last April (Ruben Albarran/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Last December, the Super League’s promotor A22 published plans for a revised competition of three divisions formed by 64 clubs from all across Europe. This was just before a European Court of Justice decision which both UEFA and A22 claimed as victories.

While any new breakaway league still appears a long way off, Barca’s accounts show that so far the venture has cost the club €2.6million in costs and legal fees.

Barcelona are owed €23m from other clubs…

This is the total the club states they are set to receive from transfer fees of players they have sold.

The largest sum lies with Real Betis, who need to pay instalments for Chadi Riad (€4.8million) and Abde Ezzalzouli (€2.3m). There is also €3.9m pending from the sale of Franck Kessie to Al Ahli, while it is revealed Atletico Madrid still owe Barcelona €3.3m for Antoine Griezmann.

… but they themselves owe €147m

This is the rough total of transfer fees Barca still owe over recent signings. Of that sum, €45million is described as “short-term” debt, while €102.6million is “long term”.

For example, Barcelona are still paying Manchester City for the €55million signing of Ferran Torres in January 2022. City are due to receive €13m over the next year with another €13m to follow.

There are similar figures pending over the summer 2022 arrival of Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich (€10.4m over 2024-25 and €10.6m to follow). In addition, five of his former Polish clubs (Legia Warsaw, Lech Poznan, Delta Warsaw, Zinc Pruzskow and Polonia Warsaw) are also due to receive payments from Barca, ranging from €33,000 to €169,000.

Lewandowski playing for Lech Poznan in September 2008 (Dieter Nagl/AFP via Getty Images)

Another deal that involves more significant numbers is the one with Brazilian club Athletico Paranaense for Vitor Roque, who is on loan at Real Betis this season. Barca agreed a €30million fixed fee (plus €31m in potential future add-ons) for the striker, who turned 19 in February. They are still due to pay €19million (€11.8m of that over the next financial year).

But no club is owed more money than Leeds United. Barca signed Brazilian winger Raphinha from them for back in 2022 in a deal worth up to £55m. According to these latest documents, the English club is due to receive €559,000 before June 2025, with another €41.9m to follow in long-term payments.

A Negreira update (sort of)

There are a total of eight pending legal disputes mentioned in the document. Beyond Barcagate and the cases involving Dembele and Aguero, there is also mention of a long-standing issue relating to the contract of former player Gabriel Milito, who was at Barca between 2007 and 2011.

The club say they finally reached a “transactional agreement” with Milito last summer, although they don’t specify any figures. Milito was claiming compensation of €6.9million. His contract was due to run until 2012.

There was also an update of sorts on the Negreira case — the investigation into Barca’s payments of €7.3million to former referees chief Jose Maria Enriquez Negreira between 2001 and 2018 — the year he left his position with the Spanish FA.

Former referees chief Negreira has denied any wrongdoing (David Zorrakino/Europa Press via Getty Images)

He and Barca have denied the payments he received constitute any wrongdoing, with the club saying he was hired as an “external consultant” who provided reports “related to professional refereeing”.

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Barca say this case is still at a pre-trial stage and they are therefore unable to set a value on potential financial and sporting consequences.

A ‘secret’ signing

The document also confirms a signing that had not been officially announced by Barcelona yet — for promising 17-year-old striker Ibrahim Diarra.

He scored five goals and provided four assists for Mali at the Under-17 World Cup last year on the way to his nation’s third-place finish. His former club, Africa Foot, said they had reached an agreement with Barcelona in January, but the Catalan club are yet to make any public announcement.

However, the club’s accounts include mention of a €1.7million payment for him. Barcelona sources say the attacker will join Barcelona Atletic, the club’s second team that play on Spain’s third tier, as soon as he turns 18 in December and can be granted a work permit.

(Top photo: Pau Barrena/AFP via Getty Images)