BARÇA HAS 30 DAYS TO SIGN A GOALKEEPER
The conditions that LaLiga imposes on Barça to sign Ter Stegen's replacement
Published:25/09/2024 - 17:10h
Updated:25/09/2024 - 17:10h
FC Barcelona seems to have decided to sign a goalkeeper to cover the loss of Ter Stegen. However, the club must meet a specific deadline and salary margin to be able to incorporate another goalkeeper before the winter market
LaLiga will not give FC Barcelona too many facilities to sign a goalkeeper after the serious injury suffered by Marc-André ter Stegen. Although the competition regulations allow clubs to incorporate players due to long-term absences, the complex financial situation at Barça complicates the options of adding a goalkeeper before the opening of the next transfer market, in January. Barça continues to exceed its salary margin, which is why it must meet two fundamental conditions in order to strengthen itself.
The first has to do with a reduced deadline. In accordance with the provisions of article 77 of the Regulations for the Preparation of Budgets, the Catalans have 30 days to resolve the arrival of another goalkeeper, that is, until next October 22, the day that marks exactly one month since the injury to the Barcelona captain. If the contracting and registration of any player is not completed within that period, the club will only be able to reinforce itself once the winter market begins, as long as it is in compliance with the financial 'Fair Play'.
Barça will only be able to use a part of Ter Stegen's salary to sign
The other condition that Barça must meet has to do directly with the salary bill. The club can only take advantage of 80% of Marc-André's salary to incorporate another footballer, be it a goalkeeper or a field player. The German international has a net turnover of 6.3 million euros per season (€12.6 million gross), so the Barça team has around 5 kilos available to resolve the signing of a guaranteed replacement for its captain.
In the squad, the available options are Iñaki Peña, Ander Astralaga and Diego Kochen. The former already shouldered the burden of replacing Mönchengladbach's last season, playing a total of 17 games in which he conceded 32 goals, with just 3 clean sheets. At the moment, the option that sounds the loudest to cover the loss of '1' is the Polish Wojciech Szczesny, who has already said yes to Barcelona and has the 'ok' of Hansi Flick.
Barça still has Dani Olmo's registration pending for the second half of the season, but will not be able to use the salary margin freed up by the loss of Ter Stegen to resolve its budgetary problems. In that sense, 80% of the German's salary can only be used to incorporate another player. At the time, Barça took advantage of Araújo's injury to resolve the registration of Iñigo Martínez, but the Basque's case was different as he was a footballer with a current contract for one more season, in this case until the end of 24/25. . Olmo, on the other hand, signed for six seasons, until 2030.
