Pedro Riesco: The most serious thing about Barcelona is that they can't register the players they've signed

Former footballer Pedro Riesco has expressed his surprise about Joan Laporta's calm reactions when asked about Lionel Messi's future and contract renewal with Barcelona.

The Argentina captain's contract with Barcelona expired on July 1 and the Blaugrana have yet to announce its potential renewal, mainly due to the club's financial struggles and their obligation to follow LaLiga's fair play rules.

"I am surprised by the calmness with which Laporta talks about Messi, as if Messi were still a Barcelona player," Riesco told Radio MARCA.

"For me the most serious thing that is happening to Barcelona is that they can't register the players they have signed, [Sergio] Aguero, [Memphis] Depay..."

Football journalist Jorge Liano is convinced that LaLiga president Javier Tebas will find a solution to help Barcelona find a way out of the dead-end.

"Tebas is at the crossroads of having to enforce the rules and he also has to sell the [TV] rights to Spanish football for the best possible [price]," Liano told Radio MARCA.

"That contract that has to be sold will be easier [to be penned] if you have Messi, [Kylian] Mbappe or [Antoine] Griezmann in LaLiga Santander.

"I think that they are not going to throw the rules to the rubbish bin, but they are going to give a hand to all the clubs."

Another football expert, Ramon Alvarez de Mon, joined Liano and Riesco on Radio MARCA to claim that Barcelona should cash in on their young prodigies to make space in their salary cap.

"Barcelona far exceed the salary limit," said Alverez de Mon.

"It is not even worth it if they sell Griezmann with an amortisation of 80 million euros still to be paid.

"They will have to sell Ansu Fati and Pedri, who didn't cost much and [their transfer fees] are amortised. There is no spirit of amendment if you've already signed four players before selling someone."