FC Barcelona is on the cusp of signing a deal worth upwards of $1.4 billion according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
Nike has been the Catalans’ kit sponsor since 1998, but a relationship spanning more than a quarter of a century appeared to be on the outs earlier this year.
Barca reportedly believed it was being underpaid by the American sportswear apparel firm, and a feeling that Nike had breached its contract also led to the La Liga giants trying to rescind the deal as President Joan Laporta revealed on his podcast back in March.
“We told Nike that, based on some breaches that for us were flagrant, we were terminating the contract,” Laporta explained.
“They had 45 days to compensate us, but they did not do it and we communicated that the contract was terminated, to which they responded with precautionary measures that we have responded to and now we are seeing the solution to these measures.”
“They have tried to improve the contract, but they have made efforts that are not enough because we know that the market pays more,” added the Blaugrana leader Laporta, whose outfit has been continually linked to Puma throughout the furore.
“In this sense, we are civilized, and working with all the options we have. We are convinced that we will have the best contract in the world.
“We are open to everything, but we cannot have a contract much lower than what the market pays. It is our responsibility as executive directors of the club to secure the best contract,” Laporta stressed.
A judge then ruled that Barca had to see out its Nike terms set to expire in 2028, which could have effectively forced both parties to head to the negotiation table if Laporta’s antics hadn’t worked in pushing Nike to improve its renewal offer out of fear of losing arguably its biggest client.
Perhaps we’ll never know, and it appears that what happened in the past will become relevant as Nike and Barca are “about to sign” a new 10-year arrangement according to Nike.
The Catalan paper says that it will be worth anything from $114 to $130.5 million a season, but what is also of great interest to the club and its fans in an immediate sense is a reported $108.7 million signing on fee aside from the total value of the deal possibly hovering around the $1.4 billion mark without considering bonuses for good results.
This is because such a fast cash injection is badly needed by Barca in its bid to navigate Financial Fair Play and possibly return to the 1:1 rule, which Laporta touched on during the most recent episode of his podcast where he discussed why Xavi was fired and Real Madrid’s signing of Kylian Mbappe.
Balancing the books before June 30 could give new manager Hansi Flick a boost in the transfer market, and perhaps help him bring in a big star or two to compliment what he called an “amazing” squad when unveiled a week ago.
