Barcelona controversially managed to register summer signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor due to their deal to lease out 475 VIP seats for a period of 30 years. That deal was later removed from La Liga’s salary limit calculations, putting the Blaugrana back in the red. If they can move back within their salary limit though, then they could be able to commit to signings this transfer window.
The VIP seats deal saw a 30-year lease signed with Fortia Advisors and New Era Visionary Group to the tune of €100m, which increased Barcelona’s salary limit sufficiently to register Olmo and Victor, until then registered under an emergency injury ruling. However after auditors Crowe established they could not include the deal in this year’s accounts as the product did not yet exist, that €100m was removed again.
The latest development, as per Marca, is that constuctor Limak has completed the building of those VIP seats, and given documents certifying this fact and a receipt to the club. Barcelona have in turn submitted these documents to Crowe, in hope that they will update the club’s accounts, and they can then submit the fresh numbers to La Liga to increase their salary limit again. If it is accepted, then Barcelona could be back in the so-called ‘1:1 rule’.
La Liga challenged the registration of Olmo and Victor, and reportedly have suspicions over the business connections between Barcelona, Fortia Advisors and New Era Visionary Group. There has also been some suggestion that La Liga may include the deal in their calculations, but on a pro rata basis. That would see the money earned from the deal divided by every year the lease is active. reducing its impact dramatically ahead of next season, and altering Barcelona’s plans.
There does appear to be general progress with the stadium though, with the grass laid and plans to return to a partially open Camp Nou at a capacity of around 60,000 in September. They intend to test out the stadium in July to see if it is ready for action.