Barcelona hope to have Celta Vigo’s Nolito signed this week and there are three possible ways of concluding the deal.
AS reports Barca have the money to pay for the forward but can’t spend it until the summer, otherwise they will be in breach of their own financial regulations.
Mundo Deportivo adds that even a loan switch with a compulsory purchase at the end of the season would fall foul of the club statutes for spending, which complicates matters.
The Catalan publication outlines three options, one of which wouldn’t be acceptable to Celta.
That is Barca taking Nolito on loan for the rest of the season without any obligation, which, its felt, the Celta fans would buck against as their team would lose a key player and get very little in return.
A second option would see Nolito go on loan to Camp Nou and Barca have to pay should they decide not to sign him permanently in the summer.
In this scenario, Barca pay €4m up front and still meet Nolito’s €18m release clause in the summer, Celta that way receiving more than his contract calls for.
The third proposal described by Mundo Deportivo includes players moving in the opposite direction, with Sandro Ramirez and/or Munir El Haddadi touted.
Barca want to have the deal concluded by Thursday, even though the transfer window in Spain is now open a few days longer.
Originally the LFP decided the market would close on January 29, not February 1, but have since moved the deadline back to be in line with the rest of Europe.
Celta are also thought to want a resolution soon as they have the Copa del Rey quarter-final second leg with Atletico Madrid to consider, Eduardo Berizzo taking his team to Vicente Calderon on Wednesday.
