“How broke are they”, “Rivalry continues in a different way” - Fans react as Barcelona open new official store in Madrid
Fans have reacted to Barcelona opening their new official store in Madrid, Spain, amid their serious financial woes. The club's poor economic situation has been well-documented for the last three years, with them frequently facing issues with new signings and players' registrations.
On August 27, the official Barcelona account X shared a video of the inauguration of their new official store in Madrid. The clip featured president Joan Laporta alongside a few others cutting the inaugural ribbon.
Fans found the video amusing, connecting it to their current economic situation. The location of the store being in their archrival Real Madrid's home city, Madrid, led fans to mock the club further. One user wrote:
"How broke are they?💀"
"Hahah. Rivalry continues in a different way," another user chimed in.
"Florentino Perez should wake up oh, Barcelona is taking over this city 🤣🤣," a fan joked.
"Raising money from shirt sales to register Dani Olmo," a user opined.
"Madrid winning trophies. Barca opening stores," one fan quipped.
"The store will stand long time because there is no rivalry in football anymore," another user wrote.
"Who cares about Brokelona anyway," an X user added.
Despite signing Dani Olmo from RB Leipzig, Barca were unable to register the player with La Liga due to Financial Fair Play guidelines. Olmo was reportedly signed ahead of their La Liga clash against Rayo Vallecano after they unregistered one of their injured players in Andreas Christensen.
Barcelona are also reportedly struggling to sign more players in this transfer window owing to their economic situation.
When former Barcelona coach Xavi spoke about the club's economic situation
Ahead of the summer transfer window in May 2024, former Barcelona coach Xavi had spoken about the Blaugrana's critical financial situation in a press conference. The Spaniard made honest claims, revealing that fans should not be excited about the summer transfer window.
The coach said (via GOAL):
"The Cule [Barca fans] must understand that the situation is very complicated to compete economically. It has nothing to do with what we had 25 years ago when the coach would come and say, ‘I want this one, this one and this one.' It doesn’t work like that anymore."
Weeks after Xavi's statements, he was sacked by the club and replaced by current coach Hansi Flick. Multiple reports suggested that his statements did not sit well with President Laporta and the other higher-ups at the club.
Xavi also addressed Barcelona's trophyless 2023-24 season and said:
"I understand that and that’s how we’re going to adjust to it. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to compete. We need stability and time. There are good things to compete for. The situation we are in is the situation we are in in terms of results. "
"Last year, we were solvent without playing the football we would like to play and this year, we have played better, but with worse results. We are living the situation that the club has at an economic level to compete. We need to compete better. The season has slipped away from us because of details."
In his first full season with Barcelona, Xavi led the team to the La Liga title and the Supercopa de Espana.