Xavi Hernández had assumed that against Rayo Vallecano he could not get rid of all the files that Barcelona has made this season (Christensen, Kessie, Raphinha, Lewandowski and Koundé), in addition to the renewed Sergi Roberto and Dembélé. The seven were waiting for LaLiga to give the green light to the registration after checking if they met the parameters required by the employer's financial regulations. "We are working on that. We are positive and I think that this Saturday we will get ahead, perhaps not registering one hundred percent, but we are very optimistic”, acknowledged the coach, who is not very worried either: “We have doubled all the positions”.
Barcelona, which was experiencing a distressing situation, minimized the damage to register the activation of a fourth lever that meant an oxygen balloon. It had to be Jaume Roures who saved Joan Laporta again (the first time was when he obtained the guarantee that the president needed after winning the elections to be able to be dressed) by buying 24,5% of Barça Studios for one hundred million euros. Negotiations with the company GDA Luma were strengthened by legal and administrative problems, where Laporta was forced to interrupt his vacation on the Costa Brava to negotiate the operation. After a summit with Rafael Yuste, Mateu Alemany and the treasurer Ferran Olivé, who appeared all day Thursday, the club was able to announce the agreement with Orpheus Media, the company that manages Roures, who came to the rescue.
“The club is strong and it is a magnet. This is the strength of the club and the ease they have in resolving delicate situations. We come from a shitty scenario that our friends Bartomeu and company have left us. We come from something that people didn't even imagine”, explained the owner of Mediapro, on Radio Barcelona.
Barça adds nearly 800 million euros in levers after having sold 25 percent of the television rights to the Sixth Street investment fund for 25 years (it has meant about 600 million, including capital gains) and 49 percent of Barça Studios (24,5% at Socios.com and 24,5% at Orpheus Media).
However, this amount is not enough to meet the salary limit and financial fair play. Christensen, Kessie, Lewandowski and Raphinha were the first to be registered after the League checked all the documentation. At the edge of 21.30:XNUMX p.m., the employer gave the go-ahead to the four signings in one fell swoop. Later they were Sergi Roberto and Dembélé. All will be available before the Ray. Only Jules Koundé will be missing, who will have to wait for more salary mass to be released.
Xavi had held a meeting with Jordi Cruyff and Mateu Alemany to establish priorities and the order of registration, taking into account the salary they all receive and their sporting needs. We decided to sacrifice the Englishman due to the large number of central defenders he has (Piqué, Araujo, Eric García, Christensen) and the loss of rhythm of the teenager who recently littered a pubic injury.
Now, in order to register Koundé, Barcelona has several ways: reduce the wage bill (it is being negotiated with Piqué and Busquets) or release one of its players. Braithwaite and Umtiti are not in Xavi's plans, Frenkie de Jong and Dest are transferable, and Aubameyang has important offers. The club intends to use both options, since it also aspires to sign Marcos Alonso and Bernardo Silva.
