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Barcelona BANKRUPTCY claim as Joan Laporta prepares stunning comeback
BARCELONA are facing BANKRUPTCY if they continue running the football club they way they are.
That is the claim from former Barcelona president Joan Laporta, who is eyeing a sensational return to the club.
Laporta was president of Barca between 2003 and 2010 before being ousted in an election.
But he intends to run again in 2021 and oust Josep Bartomeu from the position.
"I'm planning to return, although I have not decided yet. I'm thinking about how we would do a good project again,” he said at a conference in China.
They are leaving the club in bankruptcy
Barcelona have become one of the leading powerhouses in European football over the past two decades.
They have won won four Champions League titles since 2006 and eighth La Liga crowns in that time.
But their success has come at a cost, with a spiralling wage bill cutting into the club’s bank balance.
Barca - owned by a collective of 140,000 members - spend over £560m on salaries a year.
But they are finding holding onto their top stars tough to negotiate, with the likes of PSG, Bayern Munich and a host of Premier League sides willing to pay record-breaking fees to sign global talent.
Barca posted club-record income figures in the summer of £811m.
They plan to spend £318m on renovating the Nou Camp.
But Laporta is worried the club’s current structure in unsustainable.
Barcelona: Dembele swap-deal for Neymar unlikely says Moreno
“I do not like Bartomeu’s attitude, (he) never faces the situation and is not clear. They need to improve this,” he added.
“In economic terms, the club has a huge, very difficult debt deal related to the new stadium.
“The ratio between wages and income is very high.
“They are leaving the club in bankruptcy and this is very dangerous.
"They manage the club through surveys, in my opinion, they do not have a model for the club.”
Barca earned £200m in the summer of 2017 from the hostile sale of Neymar to PSG.
They reinvested that money in Ousmane Dembele and then spent £142m oh Philippe Coutinho in January.
Barca are not expected to break the bank again in the New Year but may add to the squad, with Ajax defender Matthijs de Ligt their top target.
Laporta oversaw the development of Barca’s La Masia training centre that produced a crop of players that would go on to dominate world football in the late 2000s.
And the ex-president wants to see the club create a new dynasty through their youth development.