On the Spanish league side, world footballer Lewandowski, along with fellow expensive signings Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie, were listed as registered on Friday night. They can play against Rayo Vallecano in the first game of the season on Saturday night (9pm) at the Camp Nou.
According to information from the specialist newspaper “Mundo Deportivo”, the Catalans were also able to secure the playing license for new signing Raphinha as well as for Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto, whose contracts have been renewed. Only the case of Jules Kounde is still unclear.
The club had previously announced that it had sold Orpheus Media 24.5 percent of the shares in Barca Studios for 100 million euros in the fourth campaign of this kind. With this further cash injection, the Catalans made the breakthrough. The league has to ensure that the rules of fair play are observed, but according to the Spanish media it was not interested in superstars ending up in the stands.
Risky game by Laporta and Co.
The 26-time Spanish champion, who lost his world star Lionel Messi to Paris Saint-Germain almost exactly a year ago without a fee, had already earned income through sales outside of the transfer market. Around 24.5 percent of the shares in merchandising were sold, as well as 25 percent of TV rights for 25 years for EUR 517 million.
President Joan Laporta is obviously trying to quickly reduce the mountain of debt of 1.35 billion euros with such targeted proceeds in order to generate income with new purchases of 153 million euros and the hoped-for successes – a risky game, as you could see from the lack of player permits .
Especially if the current transfer time only brought in 20 million euros and the sporting success was moderate recently. In the league they still took second place behind champions Real Madrid with David Alaba, but in the Champions League they were eliminated in the group phase for the first time in 21 years and after switching to the Europa League in the quarter-finals against the eventual winner Eintracht Frankfurt.
In the spring, however, under the direction of coach Xavi, the trend was already upwards, and now they want to step up a gear. Goalgetter Lewandowski is expected to take the team to new heights with goals, but the Poles have joined forces with attacking man Raphinha from Leeds United. Midfielder Kessie joined from AC Milan, while Kounde from Sevilla FC and ex-Chelsea man Christensen are expected to improve the defensive end.
The example of de Jong
Other players, on the other hand, are only desired to a limited extent: Because what is currently happening at FC Barcelona can also be best illustrated using the example of Frenkie de Jong. In the case of the team player from the Netherlands, both sides are having a mud fight. Barca are unhappy with his performances and want to sell him for as much money as possible or cut his salary. The midfielder has so far rejected both. Fans even mobbed him on the street. The professional, who wants to stay against the will of his club, accuses the club of “blackmail” and a “smear campaign”, the media reported, citing de Jong’s environment.
