'If I don't have any money...': Jurgen Klopp has no sympathy for Barcelona

FC Barcelona is one of the big players on the 2022 transfer market.

'If I don't have any money...': Jurgen Klopp has no sympathy for Barcelona

FC Barcelona is one of the big players on the 2022 transfer market. The Catalans have invested over 150 million euros so far, with a debt burden of over 1.3 billion euros on them. Jürgen Klopp is very surprised by all this.

Jürgen Klopp has expressed his surprise at FC Barcelona's transfer policy. The Catalan giants have sold their own future in recent weeks to build a new Barcelona in the present. Klopp joins a number of numerous critics of the Spanish club's transfer policy. A few weeks ago, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann found clear words for the politics of the stumbling giant.

"No. Not for various reasons," said the Liverpool coach in "Kicker" when asked if he could understand the actions of the Barça bosses. "If you tell me I don't have any money, I won't spend anything anymore." He watches what is happening in Barcelona like a fan and just doesn't understand it.

Robert Lewandowski, Raphina, Jules Koundé, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen: the list of Barcelona transfers this summer gives little indication of the club's ongoing financial difficulties. The club, which has a debt of 1.3 billion euros, invested more than 150 million euros in new transfers and sold its future in return.

The bosses sold 25 per cent of the club's league TV rights for the next 25 years. They gave the rights to "Barca Studios", the in-house content forge for audiovisual projects, to a crypto company. And sold 49.9 percent of Barça Licensing and Merchandising (BLM). Barcelona is no longer a club owned solely by the members, but is now also influenced by the companies that have bought into the club.

"The only club I know that once sold the stadium and other rights in advance was Borussia Dortmund," commented Klopp: "Aki Watzke had to come at the last second and save the whole thing. I don't know if it's in Barcelona gives an Aki Watzke."

Barcelona's strategy, like Dortmund's at the beginning of the millennium, is in fact based on betting on the future in order to make the present bearable in some way. After the last season without a title, the sporty, completely renewed club wants to play a role in all competitions again. The sobering 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano at the start of the league proved that this will not be easy given the unrest.

Further movements are possible in all directions until the end of the transfer window. Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite and Sergino Dest are all due to leave and stars like Frenkie de Jong, Memphis Depay and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could also leave the club. Three more new players are to come. Chelsea full-back Marcos Alonso, City's Bernado Silva and a right-back are said to be at the top of the list.

Potential signings, but also former Sevilla player Koundé, would still have to be registered with the Spanish league. This granted Lewandowski

"It's the only club in the world that doesn't have any money, but buys any player they want. It's kind of weird, kind of crazy," Bayern coach Nagelsmann summarized the general astonishment at Barcelona in July.