After the last very hectic hours, the suspense is lifted: Barça was able to register several of its recruits with La Liga this Friday evening. Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen will be able to play on Saturday against Rayo Vallecano.
Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen can play with Barça: the recruits were registered with La Liga this Friday evening, a few hours after the announcement of the activation of a new economic lever by the club (the sale of 24.5% of Barça Studios for 100 million euros). The sending of the documents to La Liga was done in stride. Ousmane Dembélé, who has signed a new contract with his club, is also registered. Same situation and same result for Sergi Roberto.
These registered players are therefore available to Xavi for the first day of La Liga and the reception of Rayo Vallecano this Saturday at 9 p.m.
The end of the suspense? Not quite
In recent hours, optimism was in order. However the day before, the case had dragged on and the leaders of FC Barcelona had had a late meeting to try to resolve the file. In the morning, the Catalan club finally formalized its “palanca” – its economic lever – with a new sale of its means of production. This windfall of 100M made it possible to balance the accounts more, in any case enough for La Liga to validate the registration of new players.
It will still take some effort to register everyone. Jules Koundé, for example, will have to wait. But his case was less urgent, the Spanish press reporting some muscular glitches for the defender who arrived from Sevilla, who therefore would not have appeared in Xavi’s group no matter what. Its registration will depend on other factors.
This is what Barça is trying to do by trying to lower its wage bill. Apart from the case of Frenkie De Jong, who does not want to lower his salary or leave, Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets are in discussion. To this may be added departures: Memphis Depays is negotiating with Juve, Barcelona would also like to sell other players, in particular Sergino Dest. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is of interest to Chelsea, seems to be retained for the time being.