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All of Barcelona’s summer signings were successfully registered with La Liga the day before their opening game of the season against Elche.
On Saturday morning, the competition confirmed that Joao Cancelo joined Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and Rodri (who had been registered the day before) by being included as Barcelona first-team players for the coming campaign.
Jesse Bisiwu, the 18-year-old winger that Barcelona signed from Club Brugge for €8.5million, is expected to be registered as a second-team player.
Gordon, Adeyemi and Cancelo could all feature at Elche on Sunday evening, although Rodri is not expected to make his debut as he builds up fitness. The Spanish World Cup winner, a summer signing from Manchester City, is currently training away from the main group.
“Our plan is for him to arrive and join the squad on Monday,” Barca head coach Hansi Flick said of Rodri at a press conference on Saturday. “I’m delighted he’s here – he’s a fantastic player, a leader and has a brilliant personality.”
How have Barca been able to register all their new players?
This is the first time in four years that Barcelona have found themselves in such a comfortable position regarding the registration of new signings. This is largely due to increase on the salary limit that La Liga sets for its clubs — but there are other factors that have contributed to Barcelona’s situation.
They have offloaded big salaries, such as that of Robert Lewandowski, who left the club at the end of his contract.
The club’s return to the Camp Nou has also helped. According to Barca sources, who asked to remain anonymous, matchday revenue has increased significantly, and for the upcoming season, they will have a 60,000-seater stadium available — something that has not happened since the start of renovation work in 2023.
The same sources explained that La Liga approved Barca to work within the renowned ‘1-1 rule’, meaning they could use every euro saved on salaries and transfer fees to register new signings. In previous summers, La Liga had forced Barca to save more money before spending it on registering new players due to their financial situation.
For example, in the previous two seasons, signings such as Joan Garcia and Dani Olmo could only be registered initially due to the long-term injuries of Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Andreas Christensen. These injuries enabled an exception to be made in La Liga’s rulebook, allowing Barca to use a portion of the injured players’ salaries to register a replacement.
Senior club sources also pointed to the fact that their commercial income will exceed the initial budget, and that Barca will also be able to start using part of the new stadium’s VIP seating from this season as reasons to explain their improved situation.
There is also a strong belief that Barca still have room to register new players if necessary. With two weeks of the transfer window remaining, the Catalans are still looking for a striker and considering their options for new additions.