Laporta appoints serrano as barcelona's new CFO

According to Sport, the winner of the Barcelona presidential election, Laporta, will officially take office on July 1, beginning his second term at the helm of the club. He hopes to quickly improve the dire financial situation of Barça since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

El Confidencial reports that Laporta has brought in a senior professional to accomplish this task. Sergio Serrano, an executive at Banco Sabadell, was involved in restructuring the former Caja Mediterráneo. He has 25 years of capital market experience and will serve as Barça's new financial director, responsible for advancing the final phase of the club's restructuring plan initiated in 2021.

According to the source, Serrano's primary task is to refinance Barça's total debt. This debt currently stands at approximately 2.5 billion euros, including 1.45 billion euros provided by Goldman Sachs to finance the "Espai Barça" project. El Ara previously revealed, and SPORT has also confirmed, that this amount will continue to increase if the assembly members approve Laporta's proposed additional loan.

Large-scale projects often experience budget deviations, and this massive Barça project is no exception. It is expected that the club's debt could increase by another 300 to 400 million euros, which, if approved by the assembly, would mean a 26% rise in costs. Currently, the Catalan club's credit rating is close to the threshold of being considered "solvent," so Sergio Serrano has a lot of work ahead of him.

Although Yuste will remain as Barça president until June 30, Laporta has already begun making decisions to pave the way for his second term. Barça has recovered at the sporting, social, and institutional levels, but there is still significant room for improvement financially.