Barcelona President travels to Dubai seeking more sponsorship and asset sales

Barcelona once again avoided a registration disaster in January, securing an injunction to ensure that Dani Olmo and Pau Victor remained registered and available to play. That was made possible by the sale of 475 VIP seats at the renovated Camp Nou on a 30-year lease in exchange for €100m in immediate income. As suspicion grows over the origin of the money that came in and the background of the companies that invested, President Joan Laporta appears keen to forge on with further business in the Middle East.

The first business to get involved was of Qatari origin, with registered headquarters in London, but a company that consists of just two people, and has only existed since the summer of 2024. Meanwhile the second investor has been named as New Era Visionary Group, with a base in Dubai, and suspicion over their links to the current regime in power at Barcelona.

La Liga are reportedly investigating the matter, with potentially severe consequences for Barcelona’s ability to sign players. They are suspicious that like Barca Vision, for which Barcelona sold shares of a value of €200m, but only managed to bring in €55m, this could be too good to be true.

Atlético Madrid want to keep Clément Lenglet after his strong performances under Diego Simeone. Barça prefer to sell him for around €10m, but Atlético hope to negotiate a lower fee or extend the loan. Lenglet is happy to stay, but may need to take a pay cut. @ferrancorreas

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 20, 2025

Nevertheless, according to Relevo, and as confirmed by Marca, Laporta is once again to be found in the Middle East, seeking out investment. Accompanied by board members Joan Soler and Xavi Puig, Laporta is in Dubai to explore further opportunities, with the latter explaining that Laporta could look to package off more of Barcelona’s VIP seats at the renovated Camp Nou, previously described as one of the great drivers of increased income from the new stadium.

With Barcelona reportedly already running out of space in their salary limit less than two months on from the sale of the original VIP seats, Laporta will also look for alternative sponsorship opportunities.