Barcelona president Joan Laporta has secured a loan from an American investment bank that will allow him to use $122m to settle outstanding payments owed to the players.
Laporta will be able to call on a credit line of up to $610m in total, according to ESPN but will use only $122m for now to pay wages owed to the squad since January. Barca's players are paid a relatively low monthly salary, with the bulk of their earnings covered in two instalments -- one paid in December or January and the other at the end of the season.
The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated Barca's financial problems and allowed the club's gross debt to rise to almost $1.4 billion.
Since the start of the pandemic, Barca's players have agreed to various measures to help, including a three-month pay cut last March and a payment deferral scheme earlier this season, but the club have still struggled to keep up with payments.
Barca's annual report budgeted for $280m to be paid in salaries to the first-team squad for the 2020-21 season.
The first thing Laporta did after being elected as president in March was to order an internal audit of the club's finances.
That audit is still ongoing, but, in the meantime, a club source confirmed a more staggered repayment plan has been agreed with some of the note-holders of the short-term debt.
Barca had hoped a $427m cash injection from the European Super League would ease their financial problems, but the collapse of the project forced them to seek alternative streams of investment.Laporta is also working on a two-year deal with the option for a third year for Lionel Messi, who is out of contract in June, and has a decision to make over coach Ronald Koeman, with sources indicating doubts over the Dutchman's future.