Barcelona Abandons Fight for 1:1 Spending Rules, Scrambles for Emergency 'Plan B'
Barcelona are unlikely to satisfy the requirements needed to return to La Liga's 1:1 financial regulations before this summer's transfer window closes, as per recent reports.
Even after achieving success on the pitch last season, the Catalan club continues to face constraints in the transfer market due to monetary restrictions. This has resulted in dependence on player departures and struggles to register Marcus Rashford and Joan García.
Barça had to negotiate with Marc-André ter Stegen to persuade La Liga's medical panel that his back problem qualified as a long-term injury in order to remove his wages and create space for García. However, new signing Roony Bardghji, along with Wojciech Szczęsny and Gerard Martín, still cannot be registered.
The primary objective was for Barcelona to show sufficient incoming funds that would persuade La Liga to restore them to 1:1 regulations, thus enabling them to spend equivalent to their earnings.
The strategy involved selling premium boxes at Camp Nou, but with the stadium's reopening, even partially, postponed once more, this creates complications.
Barça have arranged to return to Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys until February as a backup option if Camp Nou fails to meet safety standards for hosting supporters by their first La Liga home match on September 13 or 14. This indicates the club expects the process to reopen to the public, with limited capacity, may actually require several additional months.
A challenge with selling premium boxes over multiple years as the path to 1:1 status is troublesome due to differing interpretations of that income between La Liga and the club. RAC1 reports that consequently, auditors Crowe will not validate the premium seat sales, meaning La Liga will also reject it.
To register Bardghji, Szczęsny and Martín, Barcelona must find alternative solutions. SPORT indicates that offloading Marc Casadó for €30 million ($34.8 million) before the transfer deadline represents a potential backup plan. Casadó confronts competition for consistent playing time this season, and selling an academy graduate is considered the simplest method to raise funds.