Barcelona president Joan Laporta rules out January signings blaming financial fair play
The talks about Lionel Messi returning to Barcelona refuse to die down with fans wanting to see the talismanic striker don the Barcelona colours.
Barcelona had a very busy summer transfer window where they made numerous high-profile signings. However, the latest signings have come at a huge cost with the Catalan club selling 25% of their domestic television rights and a 49% stake in Barca Studios to raise more than €700 million. After a spending spree before the start of the 2022/23 season, Barcelona will not be able to sign any more players during the January transfer window.
Why can’t Barcelona sign more players in January?
According to reports by a Spanish news agency, Barcelona President Joan Laporta has said that the club may not be able to sign players in the January transfer window due to La Liga’s financial fair play rules.
Speaking to the agency, Laporta said, “We had to make some levers, which were economic operations that saved the club from ruin, and now the club is in economic recovery, it is now healthy with forecast revenue of 1,225 million euros, a profit also budgeted for 274 million, but despite that, according to the rules of the financial ‘fair play’ of the Spanish league, we cannot sign.”
“We and some La Liga clubs are also trying to convince the league to be more flexible and allow us other types of interpretations that can make Barcelona strengthen even more. It is more flexible in the Premier than not in Spain and this does not make much sense to me,” he added. Laporta also went on to say that Barcelona needed to generate more income and reduce costs to be able to have a salary margin.
Laporta silent on Lionel Messi’s return to Barcelona
The talks about Lionel Messi returning to Barcelona refuse to die down with fans wanting to see the talismanic striker don the Barcelona colours. The Argentine legend left Camp Nou in 2021 after Barcelona were unable to retain his services. Currently, Messi is in the final year of his contract at PSG and is likely to make the big football decision on his future following the Qatar World Cup.
Talking to RAC1 in Colombia, where he has been speaking with local children, Laporta said, “The boys and girls who interviewed me yesterday asked me about football, about Messi, [Robert] Lewandowski, Pedri, Gavi…they also asked me about Messi when they accompanied me on the walks.
They told me that I had to make him return to Barca. I told them that he is from Barca, that we have been lucky to have him, and that we will see. I don’t want to talk about him because he is part of PSG and I don’t want any problem.”
