Barcelona expected to receive €340m from Spotify sponsorship deal: Reports

According to El Nacional, Barcelona are set to receive as much as €340m as part of their sponsorship deal with Spotify.

Some Spotify employees attended the recent game between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which is further proof that the deal is close to being announced. The money is in addition to the €1.5 billion loan that the club has secured from Goldman Sachs. Part of the funds will be directly used to bring in the reinforcements that Xavi Hernandez wants ahead of next season.

Real Madrid and Florentino Perez are set to make a number of high-profile signings in the summer as part of their Galactico project. One of them is the Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, a player Madrid have been linked with for quite some time. Barcelona are looking to compete with their biggest rivals by using the incoming funds to finance reinforcements.

Real Madrid already have the better squad on paper and are in a strong position to win the league this campaign. According to El Nacional, one player that Barcelona have recognized as an answer to Mbappe is Borussia Dortmund’s Erling Haaland.

Barcelona set to sign Erling Haaland to combat Real Madrid’s Galactico signings?

The incoming money from the Spotify deal comes at just the right time for Barcelona. They have been forced to see out Ousmane Dembele’s contract and madef four new signings in January. However, Xavi still wants a long-term striker to be signed along with a right-back, a defender and at least one midfielder.

According to reports, Real Madrid are already close to a deal for Mbappe and were initially looking into the idea of signing Haaland in the summer as well. However, Karim Benzema’s continued good form has forced Florentino Perez to look at alternatives. One player who has been linked is Bayern Munich’s Serge Gnabry.

Of course, Madrid themselves will be looking to move on multiple players in the summer including Eden Hazard and the Brazilian Rodrygo. Gnabry is a cheaper alternative and can straight away slot into the right-wing position. However, Barcelona will know that only Erling Haaland's signing can compare in stature to Kylian Mbappe.

The Norwegian international has everything he needs to succeed at the highest level and has scored at an unreal rate for Borussia Dortmund. With Barcelona already lagging behind Madrid in terms of squad quality, the coming summer is set to have a major impact on the long-term fortunes of both clubs.