Crunch time for Barcelona as the debt-ridden club race to register new signings ahead of the season - reports
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Published 06/08/2022 at 20:39 GMT
Barcelona are in a race against the clock as they search for funds to register their new players ahead of the start of La Liga next weekend according to reports. The club have seven new signings this summer and as of now, none are registered to compete. They will be forced to continue selling their television rights, or move players on.
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Barcelona are facing immense pressure to register all their players in time ahead of the start of the new domestic league season next weekend.
The club’s economic crisis has blocked them from registering their newer signings. Players who are expected to take up a large portion of the club’s wage budget.
Barcelona have utilised their third economic lever and recently, they have been approved the fourth one, as La Liga reportedly informed the club that they needed to if they wanted all their players available for the start of their season.
New arrivals at the Camp Nou include Robert Lewandowski from Bayern Munich, Raphinha from Leeds United, and Jules Kounde from Sevilla, which have cost the club upwards of €150 million this summer. Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie have arrived on free transfers from Chelsea and AC Milan respectively, but will still expect to be on significant wages.
Both Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto signed new contracts with the club this summer as well.
Of these seven players, none have been registered with La Liga yet, and cannot make an appearance for a club until they do so.
Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, has sold 25% of their domestic television rights for 25 years in two separate deals for over €500m and has sold €24.5% of their in-house production company Barca Studios to Socios.com for around €100m.
The club initially thought that this would be enough to register their players, but the league has told them otherwise, hence the fourth economic lever.
The club must sell certain players or continue selling their television rights if they want all their players registered.
Players possibly for sale include Frenkie de Jong, who has been heavily linked with Manchester United, as well as Samuel Umtiti, Martin Braithwaite, Miralem Pjanic and Memphis Depay. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang may also be moved on, with the former Arsenal player drawing interest from Chelsea.
There may also be wage cuts if they are unable to move the players they need to on. Should Frenkie de Jong stay, which according to reports he prefers, he may be forced into a significant decrease in salary. Club legends Sergio Buesquets and Gerard Pique may face the same fate.
All Spanish clubs are given a limit on spendings, with Barcelona finishing last season with a cap (club revenue minus operational cost and debts) of -€144m. They were the only La Liga club with a negative limit.
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