Barça seeks money while waiting for Joan Garcia

BarcelonaBarça is already planning to bring in Joan Garcia to shake up the men's first team goalkeeping position. The signing, which implicitly shows the door to Marc-André ter Stegen, the undisputed number 1 since the summer of 2016, first required quiet and patient negotiations with the player from Sallent, a product of Espanyol's youth academy. A few weeks ago, at the celebration of his continued contract, García kissed the blue and white badge. At that time, very few people thought he would leave for the city's eternal rival. Only through subsequent conversations with representatives and family members—and also with Barça spokespersons, who have guaranteed him playing time—has he finally decided. which Cornellà-El Prat will understand as a betrayal.

Having secured the player's release, Barça has set to work on resolving the other essential requirement for announcing the first signing of the 2025-26 season: the payment of the buyout clause. Unlike most transfer transactions, this one requires the immediate availability of the entire cost, €25 million. Espanyol has reportedly considered negotiations with other suitors for Joan Garcia, but since Barça is the one who will sign him, they will not make any arrangements. In fact, the player himself will deposit the clause with La Liga to terminate his current contract with Espanyol. But before that, he will receive the money from his future club for completing the process. According to financial sources speaking to ARA, these millions could arrive in part thanks to credit operations being explored these days in the offices of several Barcelona-based banks. Official Barça sources, however, do not link the search for credit with Garcia's signing.

Be that as it may, at the end of the 2024-25 financial year and with many payment obligations on the agenda before the start of summer, Barça needs a few days for its new goalkeeper to act unilaterally to break the link with Espanyol before signing the new Barça player. If it didn't have to pay the 25 million euro all at once, which would have happened if the Espanyol club had agreed to negotiate, the commitment to Joan Garcia could already be officially announced. But since the expenditure must be immediate, it's necessary to raise all the money before saying yes. Barça is currently at this stage, conveying complete calm and confident of having everything ready by the end of this week or early next week. The wait will be shorter than with Antoine Griezmann, who in 2019 paid his release clause to Atlético de Madrid in mid-July after Barça provided him with 120 million euros thanks to an investment fund and a bank.

Long and ascending contract to alleviate fair play

In the absence of regular income, obtaining credit to pay the 25 million euros Joan Garcia is a valid option. The sum could be covered, for example, if the New Era Visionary Group company were to contribute the remaining 42 million euros before June 30th to reach the 70 million euros it agreed with the club for the purchase of the rights to operate the seats. VIP of the new Camp Nou. It would also help to bring in income from some sales beyond that of Álex Valle at Como (€6 million) and that of Jean-Clair Todibo at West Ham (€8 million). But if day-to-day activity isn't enough, Barça can consider financial products such as credit policies. It has two open that expire next year: one with Banco Santander and another with CaixaBank. However, ARA is aware of talks with other entities to cover immediate cash needs in exchange for interest of between 2% and 3% per year. One has been initiated this week for between €20 and €25 million, which coincidentally fits with the price of Joan Garcia.

Once the payment of the Bagenc goalkeeper's release clause has been resolved, Barça will open the registration file. There is time for the transfer market not to officially open until July 1, but at the Joan Gamper Sports City they are already making calculations about what is necessary for Garcia to be able to enter the list of available players of the League taking into account that the entity does not have fair play until further notice. It would be enough to Ter Stegen's departure, but this is an issue that will not be resolved In the short term. Therefore, as they look ahead to another summer of financial difficulties, Barça officials have taken precautions by agreeing to a long, increasing contract with Garcia. The lower the entry fee, the easier it will be to sign him. And the longer the agreement, the more years there will be to spread out payments.