Kounde's Barca omission will only end if club cut their wage bill or SELL stars

Jules Kounde's 12th-hour omission from Barcelona's La Liga squad list may not be solved anytime soon with the central defender forced to sit-out Saturday's league opener against Rayo Vallecano.

The Catalan giants activated their fourth and final financial lever to allow new signings Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen all to be registered with the league's officiating body before the start of the season.

However, the £42million centre-back signed from Sevilla at the end of July wasn't able to be registered time for Saturday's match, and must watch from the sidelines as his new teammates make their Barcelona debuts in front of a sell-out Camp Nou.

Barcelona also re-registered Ousmane Dembele and negotiated a new contract with Sergio Roberto.

The 23-year-old's absence doesn't appear to have an end in site with the club now requiring more funds to register the Frenchman after activating their latest lever.

Barcelona are instead having to re-negotiate salaries with members of the playing squad in an effort to reduce the club's wage bill and sell or release players that don't fit into manager Xavi's plans.

Selling Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong to either Manchester United or Chelsea would certainly help the Spanish outfit register Kounde, while potential exits for the likes of Memphis Depay and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would further help lower their huge wage bill.

Talks were also opened with long-serving defender Gerard Pique as the club asked the serial La Liga and Champions League winner to take a pay cut.

The 35-year-old had already previously deferred part of his wages in an effort to aid the club during the Covid pandemic, and was again called back to the negotiation table to re-negotiate his current wage.

However, negotiations between Pique and Barcelona have now been suspended, according to Spanish news outlet Relevo.

There is no set date for wage discussions to resume with the two parties moving no further in talks over the defender's salary.

Discussions were also opened with Sergio Busquets over his contracted wage but the 34-year-old central midfielder reportedly wanted certain guarantees before agreeing to any deal.

Surprisingly Barcelona are still looking to bring more players to the Camp Nou this summer as Xavi seeks to further bolster his squad of superstars.

Their firm interest in Chelsea full-back Marcos Alonso remains strong, while the club's admiration of Manchester City's Bernardo Silva is a potential deal in the making.