Barcelona lose court case which could affect major sponsorship deal

Amid plenty of excitement in Barcelona about the potential signing of Nico Williams, and talk of returning to within their salary limit this summer, the Blaugrana still need to close several deals in order to do so. One of them which is believed to be crucial is a new long-term contract with kit sponsor Nike, with a rumoured signing bonus of around €100m potentially in the offing.

However their leverage in that deal has been weakened. As reported by Esport3, Nike have won the court case that Barcelona had brought against them for non-fulfilment of contract, with the Blaugrana filing for grounds to terminate their current deal as a result, which runs until 2028. It appears relations have been smoothed over, but had Barcelona won the court case, they would have been able to threaten leaving business with Nike, whereas now, Nike will be in no hurry to complete the deal, whereas Barcelona are on a timescale, as their transfer window may depend on it.

Breaking: Cancelo will almost certainly return to Barcelona. The full-back is refusing to go to Italy, where several teams have asked about him, and he doesn't want any other type of adventure either. The two clubs are doomed to understand each other and the conversations are…

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 12, 2024

Without inside knowledge on the current finances, it is impossible to tell whether this could be decisive for their immediate business, and it may not impact their current talks at all. Yet President Joan Laporta is undoubtedly playing the game with a weaker hand.