Barcelona president Joan Laporta warned that Marcus Rashford would be the last marquee arrival of the summer while the club focuses on thinning a squad with “too many players”.
Rashford managed to extract himself from the Manchester United meat-grinder to secure a loan move to Barcelona this month, joining a squad which has undergone minimal surgery. The €25 million ($28.8 million) acquisition of Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García is the only other signing the Catalans have made thus far.
For perspective, Real Madrid have signed three individual players for more than Barcelona’s entire outlay and 52 clubs have already outspent La Liga’s reigning champions. That tally will only swell given the checkbook is now closed.
“We’ve already met our objectives this season,” Laporta told Mundo Deportivo. “We have a squad, and the coach wants to make additions to the first team with Barça Atlètic players, but no new signings are expected at this time.”
Laporta justified this passive approach by pointing to last term’s domestic treble. “Our main interest and obsession was to maintain the team we had last season, because it was historic,” he argued. “We wanted to maintain that team spirit with the players we had, which is why we haven’t even considered many offers we’ve received. The coach asked us for more firepower up front. We have it with Marcus Rashford.”
That’s not to say that Barcelona have concluded all their transfer business before August even gets underway. “What there will be are savings in terms of salaries,” Laporta warned.
“We will try to avoid any painful departure. I’m not going to specify players because they’re all Barça players, and we’re all delighted with them, but there will be some adjustments, because there are too many players in some positions, duplicated, and something will have to be done.”
Pau Víctor has followed Pablo Torré and Álex Valle out of the door. These three sales almost already cover García’s fee, but there are still La Liga’s strict regulations to battle.
Actually being able to register the few new arrivals would be a starting point. With less than three weeks until the first week of the new season, none of Barcelona’s new signings would be allowed to line up as the current wage bill continues to exceed the allowed limits set by Spain’s top flight.
As ever, Laporta presented a calm veneer of indifference. “Everything is underway and on track,” he insisted, ”and it will allow us to complete the corresponding registrations. Work is underway to interpret La Liga’s financial control rules. And we’re working hard to make this a reality so we can register players.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona President Lays Out Surprising Transfer Plans After Marcus Rashford Arrival.
