Barcelona sporting director holds two-hour meeting with new signing’s agent amid registration woes

As Barcelona gear up for the new season, one of the club’s key challenges will be to secure the registration of new signing Joan Garcia.

As things stand, the Catalans need to free up Financial Fair Play margin if they are to register the former Espanyol starlet, with the imminent departure of Pau Victor only expected to free up €2.8 million.

Barcelona are hoping to utilise Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s salary to register Garcia after the German international opted for surgery.

However, the goalkeeper is only expected to be out for three months and not four months, which is the minimum time required for Barcelona to be able to utilise 80% of the player’s salary.

Deco holds key meeting with Garcia’s agents

According to Diario SPORT, Deco recently held a key meeting with Joan Garcia’s agent, Juanma Lopez and his lawyer, Ramon Valencia, amid uncertainty over the player’s registration.

The meeting was held for two hours, where the Barcelona delegation, led by Deco, wanted to reassure Garcia’s camp that there would be no last-minute surprises.

This comes against the backdrop of Barcelona’s ongoing efforts to register the former Espanyol goalkeeper before the start of the season.

The two parties also drew up strategies to finalise the goalkeeper’s registration so that he can officially become a part of Barcelona’s team for next season.

Garcia, for his part, will be determined to start the season with Barcelona and avoid any registration complications that Dani Olmo and Pau Victor suffered last season.

In the worst case scenario where Garcia’s registration doesn’t work out, Barcelona have Wojciech Szczesny as a back-up option.

But the club will be keen on avoiding the scenario. The upcoming weeks, to that end, could prove to be crucial, as far as Garcia’s registration is concerned.