Despite consistent leaking from Barcelona that their finances are in much better state than last year, and President Joan Laporta publicly claiming they can afford big signings now, they appear to have made little progress in resolving their salary limit situation.
With the Blaugrana yet to resolve the non-payment of their sale of stakes in Barca Vision, and yet to make much in sales beyond Chadi Riad and Marc Guiu, they have also yet to register Vitor Roque or Inigo Martinez for the coming season. This is despite plenty of talk about big signings.
According to Diario AS, one of the potential exits before his injury, Ronald Araujo, will not be registered with La Liga. Araujo is due to be back in late November or December, but his salary space will be taken up by others, and he will not be able to feature in the league until 2025. They go on to say that Eric Garcia’s chances of remaining at the club have been boosted by the Uruguayan’s injury.
Flick: "We want to do something similar to what Guardiola has built at Manchester City."
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 31, 2024
Sport deny that this is the case as things stand, although they do admit that the Blaugrana have been tempted to make the move. They feel it could be too much of a risk with one of their best defenders.
In addition to their salary limit struggles, Barcelona are at a stalemate with Araujo over his next contract. The Catalan giants had promised him a big wage rise after his most recent contract, but the two sides, who started talks in January, have not come close to an agreement. Barcelona will no doubt be concerned that they lose him on the cheap, if they cannot sign a fresh deal before next summer.
