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FC Barcelona might face some problems in recruiting new players even after the transfer ban is lifted in January. According to a report in AS, UEFA's Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules and La Liga's own spending cap can limit Barcelona’s spendings in January.
The Catalan club was barred from making any new signings after they were found guilty of repeatedly breaking transfer regulations under Article 19 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. The Court Of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) endorsed FIFA’s decision to punish the Catalan giants for two successive transfer windows.
The governing body issued a ban on the club from signing players in April 2014 after they were reportedly found guilty of breaching transfer regulations. The club had appealed against the ban in August 2014, but it was rejected.
Barcelona’s treble-winning coach Luis Enrique has not been able to register players over the past two transfer windows. Aleix Vidal and Arda Turan were the players signed in the summer transfer window, but they can only ply their trades once they are registered in January after the transfer ban is lifted.
Various high profile signings over the past three years, such as Neymar and Luis Suarez, have hampered the wage structure at Barcelona. Lionel Messi was also given a new contract in 2013, which has only increased the wage bill for the Blaugranas to a point where they are almost nearing the maximum amount allowed.
Barcelona dangerously close to spending more than wage cap allows
The club has also set a financial cap for themselves. The upper limit of the ration is 2.5 points, but as of now, ration stands at 3.2 points. This will hamper Barca’s activity in the transfer market to a large extent.
The LFP has allowed Barcelona a wage cap of €421m and they currently stand at €419m. So, unless they sell some players, new faces will be hard to bring in. But the club can still sign players on loan.
The Blaugranas are under some serious debt as well, and club President Josep Maria Bartomeu and his directors have a challenge on their hand to make the club debt free. Marca reports that the Catalan club is currently under €328m debt and the main factor behind the alarming rise in losses are the signings the club have made in the last two summers, all done in an effort to ensure on-field success.
