Barcelona risk not being able to register Lionel Messi or new competitions Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia until January if they can not manage their finances and fall in line with La Liga’s strict wage rules before the 31 August transfer deadline.
Messi is officially considered a free agent as his previous contract expired on June 30. He is believed to have reached an agreement on a new five-year deal, including a 50% pay cut on his previous deal, but it will not be signed and registered until the budget is available.
With the coronavirus pandemic exacerbating existing economic problems, Barça must raise money and lower wages to comply with wage rules. If they can not make room for the salary cost of Messi and the others, they can not register to play.
Although free agents can be registered with new clubs outside the transfer windows if they were already free agents, the latest transfer window began, the deadline of 31 August is still crucial for Barça.
Barcelona have also failed to register Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay or Eric Garcia / David Ramos / Getty Images
Former Getafe midfielder Pedro Leon was not allowed to be registered in the summer of 2014 when his club exceeded their salary cap and ESPN writes that La Liga president Javier Tebas does not intend to ease Barcelona’s rules.
It is understandable that Barça want the situation resolved when they open their La Liga campaign against Real Sociedad at the Camp Nou on 15 August. There will be another 16 days after arranging things if it takes a little longer to make the sale, but no more flexibility after that.
A handful of fringe players, including Junior Firpo and Konrad de la Fuente, have moved on, but the key offers to make a real difference will include Antoine Griezmann, Philippe Coutinho and to a lesser extent Samuel Umtiti and Miralem Pjanic.
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