Barcelona to copy Man City?! La Liga club made offer by Qatar businessmen to have their own team in Middle East

• La Liga giants eager to raise funds
• Can expand into a different market
• Proposals being mulled over

WHAT HAPPENED? The Liga giants are forever in the market for methods of generating much-needed funds, with the financial struggles endured at Camp Nou over recent years being well documented. With that in mind, a delegation from Catalunya – led by club president Joan Laporta – is said to have met with Qatari businessmen.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: One of the topics discussed during talks with counterparts at Baldi Express was, according to Mundo Deportivo, the potential creation of a team in Qatar that would operate under the Barcelona name while helping to generate profit for the parent club in Spain.

AND WHAT'S MORE: Barca are said to be mulling over the proposal as they need to fund lucrative contracts in a La Liga title-winning squad while also finding the money to complete the elaborate Espai Barca project that is upgrading their famous home stadium.

WHAT NEXT? Any franchise agreement would see Barca take a leaf out of Manchester City’s book, with the Premier League giants – who savoured Treble glory in 2022-23 – boasting the likes of New York City FC, Girona, Melbourne City and Mumbai City as sister clubs that operate under the wider City Football Group umbrella.