Joan Laporta was elected as the new Barcelona president last month and was in the centre of the official first team photo of the La Liga side.
Taking a quick look at the official photo, it looks like Philippe Coutinho is photoshopped along with his teammates.
In his column for Sport, Journalist Marc Menchén gives his take on the team photo and what it means to Barcelona.
The Spanish club agreed to pay €120m fixed fee plus €45m in variables to Liverpool for signing the Brazilian.
Menchén points out €15m of the variables have already been paid, making the overall cost around €135m, which is to be divided across his five-year contract.
Coutinho still has two more years, meaning around €54m is still be paid for a player who has devalued himself in the market. He then states there’s still €72m pending for Antoine Griezmann, €26m for Ousmane Dembélé and €45m for Miralem Pjanić.
The journalist states the figures associated with each player would be the price Barca must ask, if they decide to sell them at a loss. The problem for the Blaugrana is the figures mentioned are way below the fee the Camp Nou side paid for their signings.
This, coupled with Barcelona’s poor economic conditions will only allow suitors to take advantage of the situation, knowing that Ronald Koeman’s side have an ‘urgency to make cash’.
The market is ‘at it’s lowest point’ in recent years and the journalist points out the current climate makes it even worse for clubs like Barcelona who want to make cash through player sales.
Menchén warns the latest Barcelona team photo means ‘months of tension’ could lie ahead for the Catalan club, when they look to raise funds to ease their financial situation.
