Barcelona still have €57m remaining in transfer budget

Barcelona are yet to officially register Jules Kounde, even if signs point to that deal being one. Yet Marca say that there is still some money left in the bank for transfers.

That assertion is based on the accounts and statements made by the club directors at the beginning of the transfer market. At the time they said that there would be €200m available for transfers, of which €148m has been spent on Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski and Jules Kounde.

The sale of Philippe Coutinho was included in the previous financial year and so the €5m from Ferran Jutgla’s sale to Club Brugge is the only addition that can be counted in that budget. That leaves the Blaugrana with €57m available for the final five days of the transfer window.

The problem for Joan Laporta is obviously the difference between having the money available and being able to register the signings according to the La Liga salary limits. As such the departure of Memphis Depay or Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will likely be required before any further deals are done.

If those deals do fall into place, the full-back area stands out as the position group to be strengthened. Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso and Javi Galan are candidates to reinforce the left side, while Thomas Meunier, Juan Foyth and Hector Bellerin have been mentioned for the right-back spot.

While Barcelona will likely be pleased with their additions, signing two extra wide players in the last two transfer windows but not reinforcing the full-back spots would have to go down as an oversight. For some time Cules have been unable to count on quality full-back depth at the club, hence the arrival of Dani Alves as a stopgap last January. No full-back has come in since.