Laporta-Birladeanu: the three legs of a strange relationship

Barcelona"It will be a gold mine." That's how Joan Laporta presented Barça Mobile, the latest business venture of one of the club's most fashionable partners, Ruslan Birladeanu. But the big announcement, as time has passed, has not been accompanied by any kind of action: since New Era Visionary Group – the company in charge of launching the Barça mobile operator – was officially established on November 21, 2024, as "official telecom operator"The project hasn't really gotten off the ground. In fact, more than a year later, Birladeanu's company has only launched one product on the market." e-SIM cards designed for travelSources within the industry tell ARA that planning, agreeing upon, and launching a mobile company from scratch using a third party's connectivity and network—in this case, MasOrange's—can take between three and five months. New Era has been working on the project since at least the end of 2024. Despite the delay, the company assures that the project will be unblocked in the coming weeks, and Barça's mobile and fiber optic operator will finally be launched. New Era Visionary Group was presented as a "world leader in connectivity and infrastructure integrations," even though its sole and first client was Barça itself. Birladeanu, its founder, also had no experience in the world of telecoms

In fact, at the end of 2024, the Moldovan businessman gained considerable influence in the Barça offices. While until then his relationship with the club had been solely the sale of luxury watches under the Barça brand through an Estonian company owned by his son, between November and January he was tasked with getting Barça Mobile off the ground, was chosen as the "systems integrator" for the Camp Nou's 5G antennas, and bought a stake in the club for 70 million euros. VIPThree key operations for the entity, especially the third, which was meant to solve the recurring problems with the fair play financial.

And the remaining 30 million?

While this year Barça entered the winter transfer window with the peace of mind of being able to register Cancelo following Christensen's departure, a year ago the club faced an extreme situation: Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor weren't registered, and Barça needed to demonstrate income to resolve the issue. In this context, Barça sought buyers for a pioneering product in Europe: Personal Seat Licenses (PSLs), more commonly known as the seat business. VIPThe club eventually found two investors, whose identities it initially kept secret. It was later revealed that one was New Era Visionary Group; the other, the Qatari company Forta Advisors. The agreement, valued at €100 million, included 475 seats at Camp Nou for the next thirty years. New Era committed to paying €70 million, while Forta Advisors paid €30 million. Although the Qatari side, with Pini Zahavi acting as intermediary, made the full payment, New Era only made an initial payment of €28 million, leaving €42 million outstanding. Despite recent reports indicating that the €12 million payment due in September 2025 had not yet been received, official club sources and the financial report confirm that the payments were made on schedule. Thus, only €30 million remains. This payment is expected before the end of the fiscal year. However, within the Barcelona camp and close to Joan Laporta's board, there is a suspicion that this will either not be the case, or that the money will only be received after a full or partial resale of the New Era PSL package.

The antennas of Camp Nou

Another Barcelona deal that went in New Era's favor was the allocation of the Camp Nou 5G antennas. Although leading companies in the sector, such as Telefónica and Cellnex, bid for the project, Barça and Limak – the construction company behind Espai Barça – preferred that Birladeanu's company be awarded the contract. However, since New Era lacks the necessary equipment for installation, Orange was ultimately responsible for the installation. New Era, therefore, only served as a "systems integrator." As the club announced, the antennas for the future Camp Nou must offer "very low latency and perfect connectivity." Hence, their installation was projected to have a €12 million impact on Espai Barça. Sources close to the deal explain that Orange received €6 million from Limak for the infrastructure. Barça Mobile, under maintenance

The idea of creating an operator under the Barça brand also has a long history. In fact, as ARA already detailed, The proposal originated in a meeting in February 2024 between the club and Parlem TelecomMonths later, and to the surprise of the Catalan telecom company, the project fell to New Era. In April of last year, the company began selling e-SIM cards through its website. However, the website has been undergoing maintenance for several weeks and is currently inaccessible. According to New Era, they are preparing for the "soon" launch of the operator. Sources at Orange also claim that they could have launched months ago and, in fact, don't understand why they haven't yet. Sources close to the offices at Aristides Maillol also explained to ARA the unusual nature of the agreement between Birladeanu and the club to launch the operator. Normally, when a third party wants to exploit the Barça brand to open or promote a business, the club and the interested company enter into a sponsorship agreement. These deals bring financial benefits to the club. However, this wouldn't have been the case with New Era. "They've been given a business for free," they say.

In recent months, Birladeanu's company has also undergone structural changes. Specifically, since September 18, 2025, Réka Monika Bors has become a joint attorney for the group's Barcelona subsidiary, New Era Visionary Group Iberia SL. According to company sources, the new addition is responsible for leading technological development. Company sources also told ARA that they will open new offices "near Barcelona Cathedral." It is expected that they will house the call center.