Barcelona to register Gavi’s contract after Alba, Busquets’ exit frees up €40 million

The departures of Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba has allowed Barcelona to finalize the contract registration of young midfielder Gavi, as the team has been able to free as much as €40 million in salary space, reports Juan Jimenez via SPORT.

Although the exits of Busquets and Alba were sentimental for all, it has come as a blessing in disguise. The captains of the Blaugrana entity were working on high salaries, meaning that their departure is going to help Barcelona in more than just Gavi’s case.

As Jimenez writes, freeing up €40 million in salary space means it will not only allow the team to register Gavi but will also aid them in updating Ronald Araujo’s contract and the future renewal of Alejandro Balde.

Barcelona’s battle with La Liga over the salary cap limit has been going on since January. Back in September 2022, Gavi extended his deal with the team until 2026, but the conditions of the contract were later revoked after La Liga ruled that Barcelona do not have sufficient financial resources to officially register the player.

A month back, sporting director Mateu Alemany assured, “Gavi and Araujo are protected by Barça with a release clause of €1 billion, each one. We will register them with their new contracts, I don’t know when, but they are Barcelona players. We will solve everything.”

Now, Barcelona’s filing in the Commercial Court is still not resolved, but thanks to Busquets and Alba’s exit, the matter is now less serious and is more likely to be resolved towards the end of the season. 

Meanwhile, Barcelona are also working on more player sales, with those who spent the 2022/23 season on loan, namely Samuel Umtiti and Clement Lenglet among others, are said to be heading towards permanent exit.

Furthermore, the futures of the likes of Ansu Fati, Ferran Torres and Franck Kessi is also in limbo. If the team manages to acquire enough revenue from the sale, they can work on bringing Lionel Mess back to Camp Nou.