Barcelona president Joan Laporta is confident the club’s new signings can be registered ahead of the new season.
Barca‘s financial turmoil has become the talking point of the summer, the Camp Nou club more than €1billion in debt and significantly over their La Liga salary cap.
While over their cap, the Blaugrana can only reinvest 25% of any incomings, meaning the registry of Lionel Messi’s new contract, as well as those of their new signings, is virtually impossible until they come back below the salary cap.
At this point, it looks like a tall order for Barca to achieve that ahead of the new season, which starts in just over three weeks, but Laporta is confident it can be done, and that new players Sergio Aguero, Memphis Depay and Eric Garcia can be registered, even if there is no mention of Emerson Royal.
“The players that we are bringing in can be registered: Memphis, Kun and Eric,” he said at Memphis’ unveiling. “We know the restrictions we have over the sporting salary, which exceeds the incomings of the club, and the ratio means it is not easy to bring in players.
“We are working with La Liga. Mateu Alemany is doing an extraordinary (job), also the vice-president, the technical secretary, and the club, we are confident.”
Confidence is not something Laporta often lacks in, but what was surprising was to hear the Barcelona president agreeing with La Liga chief Javier Tebas over the reasoning behind the league’s financial rules.
“It’s a problem that we cannot deny that exits,” added Laporta. “But we are convinced that it exits for the good of all.”