It is irrevocable. While the orchestra continues playing, in an exquisitely tuned way, on the way to the tenth consecutive Copa del Rey and the third Champions League in a row –if it doesn’t fail in the quarterfinals first–, the Blaugrana handball managers are juggling to maintain a competitive block next season and at the same time meet the club’s demand to drastically tighten their belts: the four professional sections of Barça must reduce their budgets by 15%. In the case of handball, it will be time to drop ballast: Ludo Fàbregas is leaving, they have invited Luka Cindric to leave and Artsem Karalek will not arrive.

“We will opt for local talent”, says Joan Marin, coordinator of the section. The manager refers to the arrival of two Spanish pivots and the tandem of centrals that will form Pol Valera and Domen Makuc, now without having the Croatian in the squad. Two years ago, the director couple was Pálmarsson-Cindric.

The club takes the Croatian’s departure for granted, but Cindric, signed in 2019 by Xavi Pascual (for 400,000 euros from Kielce), still has a two-year contract, for an amount –according to some sources– of 1.5 million gross . And the player obviously has no intention of looking for another site.

The intention of the club is clear: Cindric “is already amortized” and “he is no longer a differential player”, they slide. That is to say, that he is dispensable –they consider in the section–, although he is one of the best central defenders in Europe, as he once again demonstrated yesterday against Ademar. But he is one of the five players with the highest salary on the roster, and if it is necessary to cut back, he has more numbers than anyone to slim down the payroll account.

The other substantial sum in the reduction in wage bill will be provided by Ludo Fàbregas, who has already announced his signing for Veszprém next season. His exit is the great mystery that no one explains. Not him, not the club. His contract was ending this summer, Barça offered him a renewal with a notable salary increase, but the North-Catalan rejected it. And not because in Hungary I will charge much more. In addition to being the second captain and being a benchmark in the dressing room with great ascendancy, he has his life set up in Castelldefels, his wife and daughter are Catalan, his commitment and identification with Barça are beyond doubt, his parents visit him from Banyuls de la Marenda (they have even come to Santander)… Some voices attribute their refusal to continue due to their discontent with the technical changes decreed with the exits through the back door of Xavi Pascual and David Barrufet.

Be that as it may, without Fàbregas and Cindric, Barça will save between 600,000 and 700,000 euros net in salaries, which will make it easier to meet the goal of reducing 15% of the budget: going from the current 8.5 million to about 7, 2-7.5. “We will not reach 15% in the first year, and it will not only be with the reduction in wages,” club sources detail. They calculate that the global salary saving will be around 400,000 euros (since other players increase the salary due to contractual improvements, and there will also be a couple of low-cost additions).

The big problem with the professional sections of Barça (basketball, handball, futsal and roller hockey) is their high cost: in the previous campaign they had 48 million euros in losses, mainly due to a very skyrocketing wage bill, 37 million in basketball alone, and about six million in handball (as published by Palco23).

That is why, in addition to seeing the departure of Fàbregas and Cindric as financial relief, the section has also dismissed the signing of the Belarusian pivot Karalek, from Kielce, who was chosen to replace the Frenchman. Barça agreed to pay the 300,000 euros requested by Kielce, but the Polish club demanded more and the blaugrana entity withdrew. He opted for a plan B, a two for one: sign two young Spanish promises, Javi Rodríguez (BM Logroño La Rioja) and Jaime Gallego (Torrelavega), whom he has tied up.

Undoubtedly, the Blaugrana battleship loses muscle for the coming season. Will it be enough to be competitive in Europe? “Don’t doubt it; we will be in Cologne”, says Joan Marín.