Barcelona ‘unable to register new signings Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen’

It’s like the Ferran Torres debacle all over again

Barcelona are reportedly unable to register free signings Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie, with the Catalan giants set to announce the arrival of the pair in the coming weeks.

As reported by Sport, the financial situation at the LaLiga club means that if the season were to start today, they would not be able to register either Kessie or Christensen due to their current financial situation.

It comes after reports that Xavi’s side are looking to secure the signature of Bayern Munich frontman Robert Lewandowski, who is keen to leave the Bundesliga outfit. They are also said to be interested in Leeds United star Raphinha.

🚨 Barcelona are yet to officially announce the signings of Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessié and the contract renewal of Sergi Roberto because they do not have enough salary margin to register them.

(Source: @Sport) pic.twitter.com/MKUjQVVpay

— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) May 30, 2022

The Catalan giants have been here before

Barcelona were impacted by the same issue in January when they were unable to register Ferran Torres after his arrival from Manchester City. The Catalan club were eventually able to register the Spaniard, but only after getting rid of other players.

“We can’t register Ferran Torres yet, Philippe Coutinho loan to Aston Villa is not enough,” sporting director Mateu Alemany said at the time of the Torres situation.

“But we now have operations underway in order to register Ferran – talks are ongoing.”

Barcelona ‘hamstrung’ by ‘one in four regulation’

The Spanish side, who will have to get rid of players should they want to add new faces in this summer, are impacted by LaLiga’s ‘one in four regulation’, which only allows them to spend £1m for every £4m they save.

Sport also report that Barcelona will be able to reach agreements for various players – for example, Lewandowski – but it will come down to the selling club to sanction the move.

The Spanish publication say that Kessie and Christensen are waiting for their agreements with Barcelona to be officially ratified, with the club needing to try and save money where possible.

Related links:

• Barcelona president claims Kylian Mbappe has been ‘kidnapped for money’
• RB Leipzig ‘regret’ signing ‘immature’ Ilaix Moriba from Barcelona
• Barcelona unable to register Ferran Torres after Manchester City transfer

The FootballJOE quiz: Were you paying attention? – episode 10