Barcelona heading for a registration crisis over Lewandowski, Raphinha and Kounde
Karan Tejwani
- Updated: 4 Aug 2022 07:47 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona are having a busy summer in the transfer market, having completed five new signings and a few outgoings, but it may not all be jolly for the club.
Over the summer, the Blaugrana have completed deals for Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen, and may not be done there.
The Blaugrana are this summer’s biggest spenders, having forked out €170 million on transfers, despite the club’s worryingly high debt.
The next issue for them will be the registration of their players, and that may prove to be quite complicated, seeing as there are differences between theirs and La Liga’s audits.
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Barcelona have activated economic levers through the sale of their future profits, allowing them to spend more money now, and enabling immediate success under coach Xavi.
The first two economic levers – or palancas – raised the club €667 million, through the sale of 25 percent of their television rights for the next 25 years to American investment firm Sixth Street.
That allowed the club to complete those big money signings despite their debt, and they later activated a third lever, through the sale of a 24.5 percent stake in Barca Studios to fan token site Socios.com for €100.5 million.
Have always had affection for FC Barcelona, but what the club has done this summer trying to force players into taking pay cuts while spending wildly on new players is extremely distasteful.
— Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl) August 3, 2022
However, according to La Liga’s accounts, the sale of the first two levers only raised €517 million, which is €150 million short of Barcelona’s records, and that may cause a problem in registering players.
Barcelona hoped that the activation of the third lever would allow them to register their new signings, as they couldn’t raise enough money through the sale of players.
This may force Barcelona’s hand and gamble with their future again, as they may have to activate a fourth lever, believed to be through another sale of a stake in Barca Studios.
The club are hoping to complete the sales of some big-name stars such as Frenkie de Jong and Memphis Depay, however, no concrete offer has come in yet for either player.
If this matter can’t be sorted out in time, it’s possible that Barcelona’s new signings can’t play in their opening La Liga fixtures, as the season starts on 13 August.
