Barcelona wait for better proposals for BLM sale after ‘insufficient’ €275 million offer

Barcelona’s economic situation has caused them to enter a constant tussle with the CVC deal they rejected a year ago. All of the club’s problems could temporarily disappear if they were to sign the agreement, but their reluctance to accept the terms has left them in search of alternate sources of finance.

One of the proposed methods of injecting funds into the club’s treasure is to sell a 49% stake in its Licensing and Merchandising arm, BLM. Through this, Barcelona will be free to a large extent in the current transfer market and can push for the targets they dream of.

According to reports from Santi Ovalle, the Catalans have received an offer of €200 million with an additional €75 million as add-ons for the sale of a 49% stake in Barcelona Licensing and Merchandise.

However, this offer is deemed insufficient by the administration and has been rejected. The club are now waiting for an improved offer to arrive on the table.

Barcelona’s licensing rights were held by Nike-owned FCBMerchandising for 17 years until 2018. It was only in July of that year that the Blaugranas regained complete control over their retail operation and installed the BLM organization.

While having complete control over the merchandising does imply greater profits, the recent pandemic combined with the team’s decline have seen sales plummet. Needless to say, selling a stake for a direct cash injection seems like a better alternative.

With the addition of funds through this route, Barcelona can not only afford to bring in their targets like Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde but also register players like Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie.

But it seems like Joan Laporta & co. are unhappy with the current offer of €275 million and are prepared to wait for a better proposal despite the assembly votes set to take place on Thursday.