Excl. Eduard Romeu: Barça will make every effort to meet Xavi's January requests

Eduard Romeu, FC Barcelona's economic vice-president, spoke to SPORT to explain the figures that the club's board of directors will present at the assembly on 21 October. He defends the management of the club, praises the effort that has been made to reduce the wage bill, attacks the opposition and assures that if Xavi needs reinforcements in winter, they will make an effort to provide them. Here is part of the interview:

What is the real economic situation of the club?

We have a situation in which we have been able to plug the leak that we had of €200 million annual losses in the club's ordinary activity that forced us to make extraordinary operations known as palancas. We asked the socios for four years of patience to reverse this situation and we have been able to do it in two. At the same time, we have been able to be competitive in sporting terms and win the league last year. There is still a situation of inherited debt that worries me, but with an aggressive and painful Viability Plan we have been able to present a balanced budget without palancas.

For Víctor Font, however, it is catastrophic. He said it is worse than the one you found.

There are people who are permanently campaigning. The club is losing €200m a year since the 17-18 season. We have been transparent. To reverse that situation we have made extraordinary operations and we have explained it. In the past, other operations were carried out to make up the numbers, such as revaluing players.

You will present a profit of €304m for 22-23. How do you arrive at this figure?

We budgeted for revenues of €1.255 billion and we have achieved €1.259bn. We have some negative points such as television revenues due to the early elimination from the Champions League, which penalised us by €23m, or the transfers made, especially for the €20m for Griezmann. These situations were compensated with more income. From the stadium, €28m more than expected and an additional €19m from the commercial side. In addition, an extraordinary €400m was incorporated by the second palanca of selling 15% of LaLiga's television rights.

How do you rate this season's budget, with €859m in expected revenue?

It is ambitious, but there is a high percentage that has already been achieved. Compared to last year, there is a drop of €78m in revenue from the stadium due to the move to Montjuïc, less than initially planned. On average, there is €28m more because I am sure we will reach the quarter-finals in the Champions League. The commercial part also increases because the shops are doing very well and there is a decrease of €377m because there are no palancas. In expenses, there is a decrease of €333m: €184m from the sporting wage bill without taking into account either departures or arrivals. In total, we will have a pre-tax profit of €11m, but the most important thing is that we have been able to plug the €200m hole.

How do you define the reduction of the wage bill that has taken place?

As essential. We had to bring it down to the levels recommended by UEFA. We have the added difficulty of having sections [other sports teams], but we are going to reach €492m. We came from €676m with the majority of years above €600m. The squad is younger and more competitive, with many players with a higher market value. Moreover, we have done this by honouring the contracts, without putting our hand in the players' pockets and respecting the 'Més que un Club' by not accepting sponsorship contracts with a lot of money but with values that are not aligned with Barça.

Will there be money in the January window to reinforce the squad?

In two and a half years we have been able to meet the needs of the coaches, so if the case arises we will make every effort to meet their requests.