And on the third day of the League, Jules Koundé could make his debut, the second most expensive signing made by Barça this summer after investing 50 million euros to get him from Sevilla. After several days of complex negotiations, the Blaugrana club is closing the sufficient salary margin necessary to register the French defender in the League. The club is convinced that Umtiti’s departure, even if its impact is minimal, coupled with the fact that Pablo Torre will not be registered as a first-team player plus another interpretation of the League open the possibility that the Frenchman will be in Xavi’s orders. This is what the player expects. And, of course, the coach.
The big change is that Barça does not need to sell any player (the transfer of Aubameyang to Chelsea is still not closed) to fit the Frenchman into the salary framework demanded by the League. Barça would thus and, again, at the last gasp, avoid the legal problem that was bothering Xavi and, of course, the player himself. Shortly before meeting Valladolid, the club is unlocking the case of the central defender, the only one left out of the list of a total of seven footballers.
After the fourth economic lever was activated, the sale of 24.5% of Barça Studios to Orpheus Media, a company managed by Jaume Roures for 100 million euros, the club registered four of the five signings (Raphinha Dias , Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen and Frank Kessié), in addition to Dembélé, re-signed this summer, and Sergi Roberto, renewed until 2023. Koundé, on the other hand, stayed out. He did not play against Rayo nor did he travel to San Sebastià, even though the club had assured Xavi Hernández that he could count on the Frenchman. Hence, the discontent of both, restless because they saw that the problem was getting longer and the deadline (next September 1) was getting dangerously close. But, finally, Barça have made the necessary moves in their squad (Samuel Umtiti’s transfer to the Italian Lecce has had a positive, but very minimal, impact) to make up for this salary gap for Koundé, so Xavi he will be able to articulate his defensive structure as he intended since before the start of the season.
