Barcelona face massive obstacle in pursuit of winter signings

With the January transfer window a month and a half away, plans are already underway at Barcelona to strengthen the roster again despite making heavy investments in the summer.

Indeed, reports indicate that the Catalan heavyweights could look to make at least two signings in the winter – a new right-back and a pivot midfielder.

However, a fresh report from MARCA is claiming that Barcelona’s plans to reinforce the squad in January might not come to fruition as they continue to struggle with their inflated wage bill and Financial Fair Play issues.

It was believed that the retirement of Gerard Pique earlier this month should help Barça free up space on the wage bill for them to sign and register new players in the winter.

However, the report states that the Blaugrana still find themselves in hot waters as far as the Financial Fair Play situation is concerned.

The club’s wage bill has risen compared to last season following the host of acquisitions made in the summer. On top of that, the elimination from the UEFA Champions League has meant that the revenue will also take a hit.

As a result, Barcelona could again be under the 1/4 rule again as early as January, even though it had been previously claimed that they can operate on the 1:1 rule for the winter.

La Liga’s Financial Fair Play deductions are subject to interpretation though and Barcelona president Joan Laporta insisted that the club’s and the league’s interpretations are different and talks will be held to rectify the situation.

“We are limited by Financial Fair Play. The regulations say that we are in a negative position and we have to compensate. We have different interpretations of the regulation. We have to talk about it and find a solution,” he said in a recent interview.

So, with six weeks left for the January transfer window to open, Barcelona are still unsure whether they have enough fair play to be able to sign players, even as Xavi and the sporting staff hope to bring in a new right-back and possibly a midfielder.