LaLiga's reply to the Super League project

LaLiga announced on Wednesday an agreement with venture capital company CVC, which will see the company control 11% of the business in exchange for an injection of €2.6 billion.

LaLiga introducing a partner for the first time is a significant step, and all the more so since it coincides with the failed attempt of three of its clubs (or two, given that Atlético quit shortly after the revolt took place) to launch the European Super League project. The agreement remedies the financial problem faced by all Spanish clubs, especially the big ones, due to the crisis created by the pandemic.

However, the money can’t be spent freely. Only 15% can be used to expand salary bills and 15% to alleviate debt. The main 70% portion must be invested in sports strategy, infrastructure, brand development, communication, innovation, technology, digital platforms, and social networks…. in consolidating the business model, or, in short, moving away from the old habit of emptying clubs to promise footballers unattainable amounts that remained unpaid.

Of course, given that all money is the same color, it is not always easy to know how it is being spent or if it is being used to plug this hole or that. And this is something which frustrates Real Madrid with respect to the case of Barça, which is trying to make fiddle with its income-debt-expenses ratio in order to re-register Messi.

In any case, what arrives here is hard cash for a wide group of clubs, not a house of cards based on the agreement of a group of conspirators that collapses at the first sneeze. The position of Barça is still striking, with the club still clinging to the improbable Super League flag that Florentino Perez continues to fly while at the same time waiting for this new LaLiga agreement to finally open the back door to sneak Messi in.