Extent of Barcelona's debt revealed by fresh audit
A new audit into Barcelona's finances have revealed the club's debt is 442m euros (£369.5m) after a loss of more than 77m euros (£64.36m) last season.
The previous board, led by Joan Laporta, had announced the club was 11m euros in the black at the end of June.
But a new audit carried out by Deloitte for new president Sandro Rosell's team reveals a far less healthy scenario.
The news comes as Barca spokesman Toni Freixa said Arsenal are still refusing to negotiate the sale of Cesc Fabregas.
Fabregas has been the subject of a transfer saga which has run all summer, with departed Barca president Laporta and Rosell both left frustrated by Arsenal's tough stance.
Since having a 35m euro (£29m) bid turned down earlier this summer, Barca have made several attempts to speak to Arsenal, but Freixa says the Londoners are unwilling to budge.
"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," he said.
Fabregas, who still has five years to run on his Arsenal contract, has stated he would like to play for Barcelona, while Barca players such as Andres Iniesta, Xavi and David Villa have all publicly urged the 23-year-old to leave London for the Catalan giants this summer.
Still, along with Arsenal's unwillingness to enter negotiations, it remains uncertain whether Barcelona could afford what would almost certainly be a weighty fee for the Gunners playmaker.
The audit shows that Barca's costs in the 2009-10 season rose to £400m, with their income at £341.7m.
Barca also had to recently take out a loan of around £125m after falling behind with the payment of player wages at the end of June, while central defender Dymtro Chygrynskiy was hastily sold to Shakhtar Donetsk to raise much-needed funds for the club.
Nevertheless, Barca have already signed striker Villa this summer for £33.4m and are willing to spend as much or even more to bring Arsenal midfielder Fabregas to the Nou Camp, Rossell said earlier this month.
