Barcelona appeared to have a number of operations on their list for the January transfer window, but all of them will have to be scrapped unless they can bend the La Liga rules.
In the knowledge that the club will likely be subject once again to the rule of 1:4 – only being able to spend a quarter of what they save due to being in the red – the club had intended to use the January window to sign again while their accounts still show a profit.
However it appears those rules, of only being able to spend 25%, will apply in January already. Speaking to EFE, in a comments carried by MD, Barcelona President Joan Laporta seemed to say as much.
“We had to use some levers, which were economic operations that saved the club from ruin, and now the club is in economic recovery, it is now healthy with an expected income of €1.225b, a profit also budgeted for 274 million, but despite that, according to the rules of the financial ‘fair play’ of the Spanish league, we cannot sign.”
He did concede that they are attempting to persuade LaLiga President Javier Tebas to alter those rules though, along with other sides.
“We and some La Liga clubs are also trying to convince LaLiga to be more flexible and allow us other types of interpretations that can make Barcelona strengthen itself even more.”
The likes of Real Betis, Valencia and Atletico Madrid have been severely hamstrung by those rules, leading to heavy sales in the case of Los Che and meagre summer spending by the standards of the other two.
Their chances of changing Tebas’ mind seem slim. Whether it be the CVC deal or the salary limits, the President of La Liga has been consistently bullish.
