BREAKING: Joan Laporta wins Barccelona Presidency reelection bid. per @FabrizioRomano Joan Laporta inherited a club with €1.35 billion in debt, a wage bill at 103% of income, and no Lionel Messi because they could not afford to register his contract. He just won a third presidential term with 66% of the vote. Let me show you what happened in between. When Laporta returned to the Barcelona presidency in March 2021, the club had recorded a loss of €481 million in a single year. Their total debt stood at €1.35 billion with €730 million of that payable within 12 months, and the wage bill had reached 103% of total club income. This meant that the club was spending all of what it earned on salaries alone. They didnt have enough to transport to matches, to keep the stadium running and so on. The club that had won everything under Guardiola was, in the words of its own former CEO, technically bankrupt. The most iconic player in its history left that summer because they could not register his contract within LaLiga's financial rules. That was what Laporta walked into. Are you with me so far? Now compare that to where the club is today and tell me if this is still the same story. Here is where the club stands today. Their ordinary revenue has reached €994 million. The club has also posted an operating profit for the second consecutive year. The wage-to-revenue ratio has fallen from 103% to 54%, comfortably within UEFA's recommended limits. Their debt has been reduced to €469 million, €211 million less than in 2021. Sponsorship income hit a record €259 million and merchandising generated €170 million, up 55% from where it was. CBS Sports Credit rating agency Morningstar DBRS upgraded Barcelona's credit outlook from stable to positive in June 2025. On the pitch, a La Liga title in 2022-23, a Champions League semi-final last season, and Lamine Yamal coming through their own academy. Do you understand what I am saying? A club that was technically bankrupt four years ago is now approaching €1 billion in revenue and competing at the highest level in Europe. Now here is the part I really want you to think about. Every single metric I just described happened at a club owned entirely by its members. Laporta triggered this election himself by resigning in February specifically in order to stand again, a deliberate constitutional move within Barcelona's own governance framework. Tonight, 48,440 members turned up to vote on who runs their club. No PE firm made this decision. No sovereign wealth fund. No billionaire with an exit strategy. It was just the members. In an industry where nearly 36% of Big Five clubs are now under multi-club ownership structures, that is not just romantic. It is a functioning alternative model and the numbers back it up. Now I will be honest with you about the complications, because you deserve the full picture. The total debt including the Spotify Camp Nou renovation stands at €1.958 billion. Barcelona still owes €159 million to other clubs in unpaid transfer fees. Spanish courts formally charged the club with corporate corruption in October 2025 over the Negreira case involving €8.4 million in payments to a refereeing official between 2001 and 2018. The inbox Laporta is walking back into is as complicated as the mandate is emphatic. But here is the question worth sitting with in 2026. When PE firms buy stakes in clubs across Europe's top five leagues, the argument is always that private capital is the only way to compete sustainably at the highest level. Tonight 48,440 people voted on their club's future, and not one of them had to ask a private equity fund for permission. Think about that. My name is Ajoje. I am a FIFA Licensed Agent and International Sports Lawyer. I write on the Law and Business of Football, a lot. Repost and Follow if you want to read more posts like this.