As La Liga’s kick-off draws near, the stakes surrounding Barcelona’s new unregistered signings grow higher.
ESPN reports that two of Barca’s summer signings, defenders Francke Kessie and Andreas Christensen, could leave the club for free if they are still unregistered with La Liga come Saturday.
The news is just the latest in an ongoing drama between the Catalan Giants and their Madre Liga to raise enough revenue to register the new players.
Because Kessie and Christensen moved to FCB on free transfers, they have a clause they could activate if they aren’t registered for La Liga before the first match on Saturday against Rayo Vallecano that would allow them to join another club for free.
Even as FCB President Joan Laporta prepares to sell another 24.5% of Barca Studios, stars Lewandowski, Jules Kounde, Raphinha, Sergi Roberto, and Ousmane Dembele (in addition to Kessie and Christensen) are still not registered to play in La Liga and therefore, as of writing, would not appear in Saturday’s match.
However, such a move from the two defenders would be unusual and extreme. Barcelona technically has till the end of the month to sign the players, and both stars knew what they were getting into when they signed with Barca. (Players play for Barca to play for Barca – who cares if they have to miss the first game?)
Meanwhile, in the Premier League…
Barcelona’s continued struggles could spell a solution for Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea. Rumors are swirling that the German coach is open to listening to offers for Hakim Ziyech and USMNT star Christian Pulisic after Timo Werner’s return to the Bundesliga earlier this week. Captain America is reportedly frustrated with his minutes at the club.
If Ziyech and Pulisic leave the Blues, Tuchel will be left with an aging Raheem Sterling as one of his main strikers aiding young stars like Mason Mount, Kai Havertz, and Conor Gallagher. Tuchel will want to change that, possibly by adding Barcelona’s Pierre Aubameyang and/or Frenkie de Jong. Transfer gatekeeper Fabrizio Romano reports Tuchel is, in fact, pushing for Aubameyang, who he has a good relationship with because of their history at Borussia Dortmund.
Barca could be looking to offload both players to create more salary cap space for the above-mentioned new signings.
Featured Image: Pexels/samer daboul/FCBarcelona/ChelseaFC/DM
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