Barca debt shock! 470 million reasons why Catalans WON'T...
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Fabregas' move in further doubt as Barcelona reveal shocking extent of club finances
Barcelona's very public pursuit of Cesc Fabregas has hit yet another stumbling block after the Catalan club revealed the true state of their finances.
The La Liga side have made no secret of their desire to bring the Arsenal captain back to the Nou Camp, yet have been unable to bring the Gunners down from their lofty valuation.
Club vice-president for economic affairs Javier Faus revealed today that Barca lost more than £64.3 million last season as they romped to a second successive domestic title.
No giving up: Barcelona's pursuit of Gunners star Fabregas continues despite the results
The previous board, led Joan Laporta, had announced the club was almost £10m in the black at the end of their mandate in late June, but a new audit carried out by Deloitte for Sandro Rosell's team has revealed a far less healthy scenario or the Catalan outfit.
The new audit shows that Barca had an income of £341.8m for the 2009/2010 season, but costs amounting to £399.5m. The club's total net debt is £369.5m (£461.5m gross).
Cheat: Former president Joan Laporta misled the new board over figures, according to Javier Faus
Further spending of around £6.7m means the overall deficit is calculated at £64.4m.
'The figures presented by the former board don't reflect the real image. They have cheated,' Faus said. 'There is a structural problem. The sporting excellence in the last few years has not been reflected in economic excellence.
'The new board's goal is to bring economic excellence alongside sporting excellence.'
Barca recently took out a loan of £129.6m after falling behind with the payment of player wages at the end of June.
Central defender Dymtro Chygrynskiy was also hastily sold to Shakhtar Donetsk to raise much-needed funds for the club.
Nevertheless, Barca have already signed striker David Villa this summer for around £34m, a value they must expect to exceed should they want to complete the deal for Fabregas.
Barca are considering a frugal move for Villarreal veteran Marcos Senna to replace Yaya Toure, who left for Manchester City in a £24m deal.
The cut-price move would maximise funds to sign Fabregas, but Barca board spokesman Toni Freixa admitted the Gunners remained in no mood to negotiate.
Reports in Catalonia claim a secret deal for the 24-year-old has already been struck, but Freixa said: 'Arsenal don't want to sit down and negotiate with us.
'It's not a problem with the wishes of Cesc or of Barca - they simply don't want to negotiate.'