Barcelona’s audit reveals debt details

Spanish Barcelona’s exact extent of debt has been revealed as EUR 442 million by a recent audit. The club suffered a loss of more that EUR 77 million last season. Joan Laporta and his board had announced that the club was EUR 11 million in the black at the end of June. These numbers have been challenged by the audit carried out by Deloitte after the takeover by new president Sandro Rosell and his team.

Barca spokesman Toni Freixa has said that the negotiations for the trade of Cesc Fabergas are not going well with Arsenal. Arsenal’s unwillingness to negotiate has made this a long-winded process and has frustrated Barcelona. “Arsenal don't want to sit down and negotiate with us. It's not a problem with the wishes of Cesc or of Barca - they simply don't want to negotiate," he said. Arsenal turned down an offer of EUR 35 million for the player earlier this summer.

Fabergas has expressed an interest in playing for the Catalan club but there is five years left on his Arsenal contract. Barca players such as Andres Iniesta, Xavi and David Villa have also called for Fabergas to join their team but it the price is a sticking point as Arsenal wants to get the most for their star player. Barca may not be able to afford a weighty fee.

According to the audit, Barca's costs to GBP 400 million and their income was at GBP 341.7m in 2009-2010. The club recently took out a loan of GBP 125 million following an inability to meet wage payments. There was also a rather sudden sale of Dymtro Chygrynskiy, the central defender, to Shakhtar Donetsk to raise funds. However, Barca has invested GBP 33.4 million in striker David Villa this summer and has expressed a willingness to spend as much or more on midfielder Fabergas.