Barcelona legend Gerard Pique has urged the club's chiefs to stop deceiving their supporters and be transparent with them about their current situation.
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While the Catalan giants may be the current Spanish champions, things do not seem to be getting better for them in a fiscal sense.
According to ESPN, the club is €200 million (R4.1 billion) over their LALIGA-imposed annual spending limit of €204 million (R4.1 billion), which is consequently hindering them from registering any potential new signings or contract renewals with the league.
They are also not enjoying the same footballing success they had last season, having been knocked out of the Copa del Rey and Supercopa de Espana, while they are also trailing league leaders Real Madrid by eight points.
Pique has now insisted that the hierarchy in Catalonia be honest about what is actually going on at the club.
"The fans want honesty and transparency," the 2010 FIFA World Cup winner said on Ibai Llanos' Twitch channel.
"If the reality is tough, then say it. What you cannot do is sell smoke and mirrors and say we're going to win the Champions League if you then don't have the money to compete.
"I don't know the club's situation at the moment, from what I can gather it doesn't seem that good, but what the socios [members] value is being told the truth to their faces."
Following the emergence of players such as Lamine Yamal from the academy, Pique, who is also a La Masia alumni, believes supporters would understand if the club said that they were going to focus on using homegrown players while the club stabilised its financials.
"If you say, 'look, we don't even have a penny to spend, so for the next two or three years we will turn to La Masia', people will accept it," the 37-year-old added.
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"The message should be that we have confidence in the academy; that there are good players with a lot of talent. Bring them through and try and compete for LaLiga."
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