Barcelona's relaunch counting on Xavi's financial gambles paying off

“Maybe the expectations are too great,” suggested the coach of Barcelona after a dispiriting first 90 minutes in what is billed as the grand relaunch of a troubled club.

Xavi had overseen the competitive debuts in Barca colours of Robert Lewandowski, serial Golden Boot, of Franck Kessie, freshly signed from Italian champions AC Milan, and the €60m Raphinha, who 24 hours earlier Xavi had likened to Rivaldo and Neymar.

Over 80,000 came to Camp Nou to see the new faces. They witnessed a 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano. “We need to get better and keep believing in the model,” insisted Xavi.

The model that has enabled Barcelona to commit more than €180m to new signings so far in this transfer window is radical. The club came into 2022 weighed down by debts in excess of €1 billion, and restricted by La Liga rules which impose strict limits on the balance of income to outgoings.

To bring in fresh players, Barcelona had to bring in fresh money. They have done so by selling off stakes in future commercial revenue, a large tranche of the €800m they raised in a very short time coming from granting 25 per cent of their broadcast-rights income to a US investment firm for the next quarter-century.

Some of that money bought Lewandowski, Raphinha, and pays Kessie’s salary, and that of re-signed Ousmane Dembele - his previous contract with the Barcelona he joined in 2017 expired at the end of June. The cash injection just about allowed them to be registered with La Liga, though the sums are still tight. Last week, there was still not enough space in the revised club budgets to register another new big-money recruit, defender Jules Kounde.

BARCELONA RATINGS: Marc-Andre ter Stegen - 7. Excellent one-handed save from Alvaro Garcia in the