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    Barcelona chief Laporta: Transfers back to normal in January

    By Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens,

    1 day ago

    https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3vQ6HD_0vJ1EJXE00

    Barcelona president Joan Laporta has insisted the club will be able to sign players "normally" in January after a summer transfer window fraught with registration problems.

    Barça signed Dani Olmo from RB Leipzig for €55 million ($61m) but he missed the first two games of the season because he was not registered with LaLiga due to the Catalan club being in excess of their league-imposed spending limit.

    Olmo's inscription was eventually processed after Ilkay Gündogan returned to Manchester City and defender Andreas Christensen was ruled out long-term with an Achilles problem, creating salary space, but Laporta said Barça will be back on an even footing by January.

    "Yes [we will be able to sign players normally in January], because we plan to arrive at LaLiga's 1:1 rule before then," Laporta told a news conference on Tuesday.

    "When you say sign, we can sign players, the problem is the registration with the league. It will be easier once we reach the 1:1 rule.

    "For now, though, we're not thinking of any players [for January] because we are happy with the squad we have. But [sporting director] Deco and his team are working hard to analyse what's needed medium and long-term.

    "We are satisfied with what we have. Dani Olmo was the priority and we have signed him. I said we could make a big signing and that has proven true."

    LaLiga's 1:1 rule would allow Barça to spend anything they save in wages, make in transfer fees or raise through new revenue streams on players.

    While they remain in excess of their spending cap -- which every side in LaLiga has and is roughly determined by the difference between a team's revenue minus non-sporting outgoings and debt repayment -- they are severely hampered by spending restrictions.

    Laporta said the re-negotiation of the club's agreement with kit supplier Nike will be enough to fix their shortcomings.

    "We could have easily reached 1:1 already through signing the Nike deal, but we didn't want to," Laporta added. "We wanted to improve some terms. What we're going to sign will be best contract in the world of football."

    Laporta also contradicted Gündogan, who rejoined Manchester City earlier this month , and claimed that the decision to let the German leave was strictly a sporting one.

    After his departure, Gündogan had said "if my departure can help the club financially, it makes me a bit less sad."

    "Gündogan is a great player and an excellent person," Laporta said. "He was magnificent in his year here, but after a meeting he had with [coach Hansi] Flick, assessing the situation within the squad, for sporting reasons he decided he wanted to leave.

    "For us, it was purely a sporting decision taken by the club and the player. With the arrival of Dani Olmo, he was a player who plays a similar role.

    "I have read that it was an economic decision, but no. It has had economic repercussions, but that was not the reason. We let him leave for free because he had joined as a free agent, so it was the fair thing to do."

    Gündogan's exit, in part, helped create room to register Olmo, along with the exits of Vitor Roque , Mika Faye and Clément Lenglet , among others.

    However, it did not allow Barça to make any further signings, with the club missing out on a late bid to sign Liverpool 's Stefan Bajčetić on loan, while they also came up short in their attempts to sign another defender.

    Local media reports in Spain suggested problems adding to the squad had frustrated Deco to the point that he was considering his position, with the club quickly knocking back those claims earlier this week.

    "I have worried for his health, because it's very stressful all this stuff," Laporta said when asked if he feared Deco could leave.

    "It's been a really stressful summer, but I have never worried about him not continuing with the club. There's confidence between us to the point that if there was any problem we would speak with each other.

    "We can be satisfied with the work he has done. Thanks to him we have appointed Flick as coach and renewed the deals of all the young players at the club.

    "Deco is also the architect of the new fitness staff we have brought in this summer, he has reduced the wage bill and improved the squad -- he is doing a great job."

    On the pitch, Barça have started the campaign well, winning all four of their LaLiga games so far, and Laporta is happy with what he has seen from a young, new-look team under Flick.

    "The nucleus of the project is La Masia and Flick has shown that with his use of academy players in the first team," the president said. "We're excited, but we don't want to get carried away.

    "Flick immediately understood that La Masia is our treasure. He knows that the academy is the centre of our project and I am happy he has been so quick to put youngsters into the team. He has been brave. He's a coach that doesn't make excuses.

    "I see a lot of intensity. When I spoke with [fitness coach] Julio Tous, he told me they are using different methods now. The exercises in training are really dynamic; a lot of strength work.

    "We have a coach that wants to press until the 90th minute. After the Man City game in preseason he was angry because we only pressed until the 70th minute. I like how demanding he is."

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