Although Barcelona will see their transfer ban lifted in January, the club may struggle to sign new players under UEFA's financial fair play (FFP) rules as well as under La Liga's own spending cap, media reports in Spain say.
Barcelona will be eligible to register Arda Turan and Aleix Vidal on Jan. 4 but coach Luis Enrique, who has not been able to sign players over the past two transfer windows, may be limited by new La Liga wage caps for all clubs agreed upon on Sept. 24 that limit Blaugrana spending at €421 million euros, of which the club has already spent €419m, according to AS.com.
Barca signed Turan from Atletico Madrid and Aleix Vidal from Sevilla in the summer, despite being unable to register the pair due to the one-year transfer ban imposed by FIFA over breaches of youth transfer regulations.
In an article approved by the current board, AS reported that the club's own statutes state that any board must stand down if it allows Ebitda (Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) multiplied by two to exceed the club's overall debt. With just 13 days until the next club general assembly, the club are close to the cap.
To be within the financial guideline set out by the club, as agreed upon at the last assembly, the club must have a ration of 2.5 points. At the moment, the guideline is currently at 3.2 points.
Marca reported that if Barcelona cannot sell players -- and Adriano and Douglas are likely candidates -- they will not be able to bring in any new players, except on loan.