Barcelona’s finances are improving, at least according to their board and president, but their debts continue to burgeon as they fund not only the renovation of Camp Nou, but also redeveloping the surrounding area in the Espai Barca project. They still have a number of debts for their transfers in recent years too.
According to Sport, Barcelona have received a court order from a FIFA-registered agent Isaac Tutumlu, who is claiming €3m in an unpaid services from the deal involving Jules Kounde. The French defender, who was first paid for using the asset sales popularly described as ‘economic levers’, left Sevilla in 2022 to join Barcelona, after reportedly turning down Chelsea.
The deal was worth a supposed €50m, but Tutumlu is claiming €3m for his intermediary work in the deal. The court order claims that ‘Barcelona President Joan Laporta solicited his services in the summer of 2021, due to his good relationship with then Sevilla Sporting Director Monchi.’ It goes on to state that Tutumlu played an essential and decisive role in the negotiation and subsequent acquisition of Kounde by Barcelona.
Barcelona are closely monitoring Flamengo right-back Wesley (21). @joaquimpiera
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) February 12, 2025
Messages between Barcelona employees and the agent, where they agree a deal rising to €3m are also cited, even if a contract was not written out. However Sport report that their sources at Barcelona have denied that Tutumlu has a case. They say that the agent has periodically offered his services to Barcelona without them pursuing any business, and not that the Kounde deal was negotiated exclusively by then Director of Football Mateu Alemany.
Agent fees have been a controversial issue in Barcelona over recent years, with Sporting Director Deco appointed shortly after he negotiated a deal with the Blaugrana as the agent of Raphinha. He has denied taking any commission for the deal, while Brazilian agent Andre Cury is also under the microscope for his role in the Vitor Roque deal.
