Barça secures Joan Garcia's registration

BarcelonaAt the beginning of the summer, Barça was convinced it would have a placid transfer market. They knew the cash flow wasn't sufficient for much excitement, and that's why few new signings were on the horizon. But unlike in recent seasons, the club was counting on completing registrations early and not having to rush to the last minute. Nothing could be further from the truth. The board, in an extraordinary meeting, approved a guarantee of 7 million euros at noon to ensure that the new faces in the squad would be able to make their debut on Saturday at Mallorca (7:30 p.m.). This comes on top of La Liga's confirmation that Ter Stegen's injury is long-term and, therefore, a significant portion of his salary can be used.

It's all part of the famous auditor's report on the seats. VIP of the new Camp Nou, an asset that is already built but has not yet been put into operation, since The stadium is waiting to receive reopening permits.At Barça, they assumed Crowe would give the green light in the summer and, therefore, could charge the 100 million euros received to the income statement. But the auditor has yet to sign the report. In other words, with this financial gap, the club is far from the 1:1 rule. So they had to find a plan B to register the signings of Joan Garcia, Marcus Rashford, and Roony Bardghji, in addition to the renewals of Wojciech Szczesny and Gerard Martín.

According to La Liga regulations, outside the 1:1 rule—which is technically considered exceeding—only a percentage of the money saved by releasing too much salary can be used. With this summer's departures (Lenglet, Ansu, Pablo Torre, and Iñigo Martínez), Barça has between 28 and 30 million euros to spend on new signings. That money could make room for Rashford, Szczesny, and Gerard Martín.

The guarantee is a backup plan in case the medical committee objects to Ter Stegen's absence.

There would be two other inscriptions. One is that of Bardghji, which does not count for the purposes of fair play, as he will have a Barça Atlètic registration. The other is Joan Garcia. The former Espanyol goalkeeper, who cost 25 million, had to be registered using the Marc-André ter Stegen's withdrawal, who has undergone back surgery. However, these calculations were subject to the decision of the League's medical commission, which late last night confirmed that the German goalkeeper will be out for at least four months. Barça announced the news in a statement and announced that it would formalize Joan Garcia's registration this Thursday.

However, regardless of this, to formalize the registrations, the club needed to correct a seven million euro budget deviation. According to Blaugrana sources, this is due to overspending in the sections, specifically basketball. Therefore, the last resort was to obtain the endorsement. It was approved at a meeting that was supposed to have been held in Korea, during the tour, but which President Laporta postponed. It was finally held this Wednesday, lasted just over an hour, and the decision was approved unanimously. It's one of Joan Laporta's hallmarks, who believes that the most important decisions of a season should have the support of all board members, with no dissenting votes. At least, in the vote, since the idea of a guarantee didn't quite convince some of the board members, who don't want to take risks, especially in an election year.

Barça's calculations with the auditor haven't been met.

The club had exhausted the deadlines because it trusted that Crowe would validate the 100 million seats. VIPIn fact, club sources assured in early July that La Liga had already given Barça the go-ahead and a guarantee that, if they submitted the report, they would automatically enter the 1:1 rule. But without the signature—and with all clubs auditing the Barça numbers—an alternative had to be found. For now, Joan Garcia's will be the only registration that will be made imminently. The rest of the players will still have to wait, although the club is optimistic and believes they will be able to play in Mallorca.

In any case, Barça will return to the 1:1 rule as soon as Camp Nou reopens and, now, the auditor certifies the seats. VIPOn the other hand, salary cap space will also be created with some departures, such as that of Iñaki Peña: the goalkeeper has offers, but the club won't part ways until La Liga has confirmed the registration of Joan Garcia, first, and then Szczesny. Another player who will also leave is Oriol Romeu, when there's an agreement to terminate his contract.