By Boris Mellor
July 17 2010
It is interesting that Sandra Rosell (yes I know Barca fans, don't bother complaining) has suddenly admitted that it is unlikely that Fabregas will be arriving at the Camp Nou this year, just at the same time as Barcelona have finalised a 125 million pounds loan. Not that the loan will fully cover the 329 million pounds short term liabilities they carry.
Hopefully the loan will cover the up to £3.3 million the club owe Arsenal on Hleb, but I wouldn't bank on it. The last club I remember owing money on players was Portsmouth, and we all know what happened to them. Fancy that, the mighty Catalans could be the Pompey of Spain.
Time to kick the Abbey Habit and Financial Doping
The loan has been organised by a group of banks led by La Caixa and Banco Santander. Santander is the Spanish bank that took over Abbey National, and I suspect quite a few Arsenal fans have money invested, or deposited, in the Abbey. Perhaps it's time to kick the Abbey habit, withdraw your money and let them know why.
According to the Eurosport website Barcelona needed the money "to pay important commitments such as the salaries of players, coaching staff and employees." No mention of funding transfer fees. Once it was discovered that Pompey could not fund their daily running costs they were banned from the transfer market.
Barcelona clearly haven't got a pot to urinate in, and their protestations that they will not be forced to pay a high fee for Fabregas has nothing to do with the moral high ground, but everything to do with the fact they are cash strapped. It is possible that the banks have told them there is a limit to what can be spent on transfers.
Isn't UEFA meant to be stopping this kind of financial doping? It's one thing to take out a mortgage to buy a stadium, another to lend money to dabble in the transfer market.
Arsenal fans who think the club should sell Fab might have a point, but there would be no point in selling him to Barca, unless you don't mind the fact the club might never see the money.
Quote:Padre Pio
They thought Lehmann Bros was too big to fall, but fall it did.
Should clubs be allowed to use loans to buy players? Thats the issue.
Barca have taken out a loan to cover daily running expenses, how are they different to Pompey? Yes they are bigger thats the only difference
