FC Barcelona officials have been busy finding ways to dig themselves out of the financial hole that they have found themselves in, but it appears as though they have not been doing themselves any favours by changing managers so constantly.
Most recently, the sacking of Ronald Koeman has cost the Catalan giants somewhere in the vicinity of 13 million euros. This included the Dutchman’s clause in his contract that protects his earning had he stayed with the Netherlands national football team from where he was pirated by the club. His premature termination also meant that the club did not only have to pay him, they also needed to pay Qatari club Al-Sadd in order to activate the release of Xavi Hernandez. It is still unclear how much the club actually shelled out, with rumours stating that Xavi paid half of the €5 million fee himself.
Tracking back, Barcelona also owe Koeman’s predecessor Quique Setien 4 million euros after he was also sacked before the expiration of his contract as first team manager in 2020. Moving even further back, AS reports that Ernesto Valverde’s separation pay was valued at 11 million euros, bringing the total losses up to an estimated €33 million.
Considering the amount of debt that the club is dealing with, wasting money on separation packages hardly seems like a wise move. However, the club was running out of solutions. The manager is always the easiest target when a club under-performs, but one must also take note of the fact that the financial trouble also held the club back during the transfer window.
Not only were they unable to acquire their high profile targets, they also had to let go of a number of prolific players due to their high wages. The most notable departures this summer are of course Lionel Messi and Antoine Griezmann.
The arrival of Xavi is expected to finally usher in a new era at Barcelona, with a massive task resting on the shoulders of the legendary midfielder. However, being a club legend did not help Koeman, and it remains to be seen how things will unfold for Xavi.
