The once proud and mighty Barcelona are now about to sink their teeth most reluctantly into a huge piece of humble pie, having been left with no options but to go through a drastic change of heart over an investment agreement offer from La Liga that the pugnacious Joan Laporta had haughtily turned down his nose at in the summer – a decision which subsequently led to the departure of Lionel Messi from Camp Nou.<\/p>\n
Barcelona are set to do a major turnaround and stretch out both hands to humbly accept an injection of cash from La Liga that they previously rejected, which resulted in Messi\u2019s exit. They are now apparently within a hair\u2019s breath of accepting an agreement with investment company CVC and authorised by the Spanish league, despite previously labeling the offer\u00a0as a \u201cpoisoned choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unfortunately the Catalan club\u2019s well-publicised financial woes\u00a0leave them no options but to enlarge their financial coffers any way they can as financial muscle to bolster their massively-deplected squad strength that has reduced the once-colossal giants to mere minnows now, as was evidenced in their crashing out of the Champions League last week.<\/p>\n
Very clearly undeterred by the loss, and possibly suffering from major denial issues, former club legend and current gaffer Xavi Hernandes has most optimistically pledged that the club will return to the level of Europe\u2019s elite in a year\u2019s time. Be it optimism or sheer delusion, it piles the pressure on club president Joan Laporta to deliver. The Blaugrana have allegedly already tagged seven free agents as transfer targets going into next season.<\/p>\n
This has now led to a corresponding sudden change of heart from the Camp Nou hierarchy over the CVC deal, which will inject \u00a32.3billion into La Liga in exchange for 10 percent of its revenue and a 10 percent stake in most of its business, with 90 percent of the injection going to clubs. The deal would alleviate immediate financial problems of the leading clubs in no small way, besides provide a relatively significant cash injection throughout the league, with 70 percent of the budget designated for infrastructure and club’s long-term growth.<\/p>\n
The Catalonians initially turned their noses down at the investment opportunity as it would have been a long-term economic contract with La Liga, which would have put paid to their plans to join their hopeful future European Super League. But their change of stance now see them very\u00a0close to agreeing to the deal, which follows up on a 10-year agreement with Goldman Sachs that will inject \u00a3510million into the club\u2019s coffers.<\/p>\n
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