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Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) president Nasser Al-Khelaifi has seemingly taken aim at Barcelona while addressing the financial situation of clubs in Europe.
It may not be recognized as one of the fiercest rivalries in football, but PSG and Barcelona have had a history since 2017. It all started when the two sides locked horns in the UEFA Champions League that year.
The Parisians placed one foot in the quarter-finals when they beat the Catalans 4-0 in the first leg of their Round of 16 tie. However, they were thrown out of the competition after losing 6-1 at Camp Nou.
PSG went on to snap up Neymar from Barcelona for a world-record sum of €222 million that summer. They snatched another superstar from the Blaugrana last year, signing Lionel Messi on a free transfer.
Al-Khelaifi has now added fuel to the fire by taking a cheeky dig at the La Liga giants. He pointed out how the French giants have nothing to hide in terms of their finances, while other clubs have debts that are a risk to football itself.
The Qatari businessmen appeared to mock Barcelona without naming them. He told a press conference [via RMC]:
"Some clubs have a debt of €1.8 billion, it's not healthy. Thank God, what we are doing is having zero debt. Of course, we lost money during COVID but we have nothing to hide. Other clubs have big debts. And that is the risk, the danger for football."
Josep Bartomeu continues to be criticized for the way he handled finances during his stint as Blaugrana president. Al-Khelaifi also seemingly ridicule the Spaniard for how he ran the club. The Qatari said:
"Some remained presidents for many years and left leaving debts to their successors. And that's what happened for years and years. This is what I believe is the danger to football."
"We have to be careful and worry about it because it is a great danger that can destroy football. We need the rules to protect the clubs, to protect football in Europe from the disaster of these debts in these clubs."
It is worth noting that the current Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, revealed that the Catalans' debt had risen to €1.3 billion last year.
Barcelona spent more than PSG in the summer
Both the clubs made a significant amount of additions to their squad during the recently-concluded transfer window. Barcelona brought in seven new players, while PSG signed six.
The Blaugrana spent over €150 million to sign Raphinha, Jules Kounde and Robert Lewandowski. Christophe Galtier's side, on the other hand, forked out just over €100 million to land Vitinha, Fabian Ruiz, Carlos Soler, Renato Sanches and Nordi Mukiele.
It is worth noting that the Catalans signed Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Hector Bellerin and Marcos Alonso free of cost. Meanwhile, the Parisians brought in Hugo Ekitike on an initial loan deal and also made Nuno Mendes' move permanent for €40 million.
