After a six years of an atrocious administration of Josep Maria Bartomeu, Joan Laporta who is regarded as most successful president in Barça's history took over in March of 2021.
With getting great pride and prestige of being a Barça President second time in his life, he also got a club which was in a horrendous financial situation with over €1.3B of debt.
The Hard Steps
However, when the club was in financial ruins the contract of FC Barcelona's best ever player was on the verge of getting ended. Where Laporta in his manifesto promised to renew Greatest Player of all Time but club's books of accounts differed from that. It said that the wage bill was 103% of the revenue and net worth of club recorded was - €451M. On top of it La Liga President Javier Tebas was pressurising La Liga clubs especially Real Madrid and FC Barcelona to sign CVC deal which would have given €200M-€300M for 50 years of TV and Broadcasting rights. Apparently Laporta refused to sign such deal as he doesn't wanted to take a bet on club's future and which eventually led to departure of Lionel Messi from Barça as his contract could not get registered and in the end Messi signed for PSG.
The Comeback
On 29th July, 2022 Joan Laporta in press conference said – “We owe a moral debt to Leo. I would like him to end his career in a Barça shirt, and be applauded at all the stadiums.”. Apparently at the time relationship between Barça administration and Messi's camp was completely broken, but it was Xavi who was a chain between the two who was in regular contact of Messi. Eventually in December of 2022 Lionel Messi won the World Cup and completed the football and decided that he wants to return to the place where he is been loved the most. But will not going to be easy as even after remarkable work of Barça adminstration and pulling financial levers club was able to register €95M net profit.
The Solution
On 15th March, 2023 – reliable journalist Gerard Romero reported that Legal team of FC Barcelona are finding solutions for return of Leo Messi. After working hard for months and months they came up with solution called "The Viability Plan". A plan which just doesn't focus on return of Messi but also made for making reinforcements in the squad to create a competitive european side.
The Objectives
So what are the objectives of this plan —
Renewal of contracts: Contracts of players like Ronald Araújo, Gavi, Balde, Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto are sealed for renewal and are in contention of getting registered but couldn't get registered due to La Liga tight FFP rules.
Signing of Lionel Messi: The biggest objective of this whole viability plan is to make the return of Lionel Messi possible. He is waiting for Barça so that they can fully assure his signing in every aspect.
Bringing European level reinforcements: Even though Barcelona is not in good financial condition thenafter they are trying to bring reinforcements in the squad mainly targetting free agents like Íñigo Martínez, İlkay Gündoğan, but after Sergio Busquets announcing his departure from there are mainly three priorities in front of the club– A world class Pivot Midfielder, a Striker and a Right Back.
But all of these objectives cannot be achieved if club failed to compete necessary task mentioned in the viability plan.
The Tasks
Salary Reduction and Contract Re-Negotiation: In previous administrative there was so much mismanagement that if they couldn't convince a player to stay they would give him a hefty contract rather than convincing them to stay. This caused a major imbalance in accounts and as we discussed all wages were 103% of revenue
But as per new speculation La Liga salary cap will not exceed ~€450M and where Barcelona's current salary structure is around €650M, Barca has to reduce to €200M of salary mass with immediate effect.
But this wouldn't not be enough as the salaries of players will appreciated and bonuses will be also be added. One way is to reduce the number of players so that their salaries doesn't get appreciatied.
Departures: Departures are the most effective way to reduce the salary mass and earn income out of it. But departures are not easy on the player side they doesn't want to leave the club but club has to convey them that they are not in future plans of team they are building. It may sound forceful but you have to be ruthless sometimes. So who are the primary targets who can depart from the club. Lets start from most harsh to less harsh departures:
Ansu Fati - Expected amount €50M, Salary freed €13M
Ferran Torres - Expected amount €30M, Salary freed €10M
Franck Kessié - Expected amount €25M, Salary freed €9M
Eric Garcia - Expected amount €5M, Salary freed €6M
All the players on loan - Expected amount €87M(~€90M), Salary freed €19M
Note: Apparently as per plan Barça has to do atleast €120M sales to accommodate new signings
Last Remarks
This "Viability Plan" is just a roadmap for a 3 Year Plan. Barça has planned something big for until 2025-26. Many Arrivals, Many Accolades, Many Surprises. “It will be a rollercoaster ride.....”