FC Barcelona made "worse than expected" losses of €330 million ($349 million) in the 2022/2023 season according to a Catalan economist, Marc Ciria.

Barca announced after-tax net profits of €304 million ($321 million) over the same financial year a fortnight ago.

On October 21, president Joan Laporta and his board must present an economic report for the mentioned period of time which will be debated during a delegate assembly.

While the club posted "better figures than expected" and claimed to have reduced net debt for the second year in a row, Ciria painted a different picture on on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The founding partner and Executive Chairman at Diagonal Asset Management in Barcelona reported that the clubs operating income amounted to €795 million ($840 million) with operating expenses soaring to €1.125 billion ($1.190 billion).

This is why Ciria has deduced that overall losses were €330 million ($348 million), while also explaining that €281 million ($297 million) was the outlay on 'other expenses'.

To summarise, Ciria lamented "very hard results" which were "worse than expected" and had "ordinary losses much higher than expected" plus "runaway spending".

The news, though yet to be confirmed or denied by the club, was not well-received on social media by onlookers and fans who have grown weary of their club's tough financial plight.

This summer, Barca spent just €3.5 million ($3.7 million) on new signings which was handed over to Girona for midfielder Oriol Romeu.

The Blaugrana instead relied on free transfers, and were able to acquire ex-Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan and former Athletic Club defender Inigo Martinez in this manner after their contracts ran down.

Through temporary deals that will expire on June 30, 2024, Barca also captured Portuguese duo Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix from Manchester City and Atletico Madrid approaching midnight on transfer deadline day.

The date in question is also when Barca's next financial year will close, with Laporta and his board hoping to post healthy figures at a later date probably a year from now.

One thing is for sure, ticketing revenue will be reduced compared to last season thanks to Barca's switch to the Montjuic Stadium while Camp Nou is being renovated.