Tag: Jules Koundé

Barcelona, at long last, gets Jules Kounde registered with LaLiga

It took nearly a whole month, but Barca finally registered Koundé

A month after spending a reported €50 million to sign Jules Koundé from Sevilla, Barcelona has actually figured out how to put him on the field.

One of the strangest transfer windows ever is finally winding down for Barcelona, who successfully registered Koundé with LaLiga ahead of Sunday’s match against Real Valladolid.

Normally, a team signs a player, and then gets him registered with the league that team plays in as a matter of course. It’s simple paperwork, basically. In LaLiga, you have to be able to prove you meet some pretty basic financial fair play standards to get permission to put players on the field after you sign them.

Everyone else in the league seems to tackle this problem without much trouble, but Barca has had a tough time because they simply don’t have a lot of interest in addressing the problem in a normal way.

They’re massively in debt, which means LaLiga won’t let them sign new players without addressing that issue, or cutting their wage budget. Barcelona seems to feel that is beneath them, so they came up with a new solution: keep signing players anyway, mortgage their long-term future, and aggressively hound depth players into leaving.

This strategy, if one can call it that, almost worked for the start of the season. Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessié, and Andreas Christiansen—all players that require significant financial outlays in terms of salary, and for Lewandowski and Raphinha, a combined nine figures worth of transfer fees—were cleared to play by LaLiga the day before Barcelona’s opening game against Rayo Vallecano.

Koundé, though, was stuck watching the game from a suite, as LaLiga said that Barcelona simply hadn’t done enough to get their books right to allow the former Sevilla center back to join their roster. Barcelona had spent €50 million to bring him over, but they hadn’t figured out how to actually get him on the field.

Barca drew that match against Rayo 0-0, then couldn’t make enough changes to get Koundé registered for their next match, a 4-1 win over Real Sociedad. While embarrassing, the real pressure started as the end of August approached, as LaLiga’s August 31 registration deadline began to loom over the entire situation.

Barcelona had ramped up the whole kicking players out aspect of their approach to the problem, telling Sergiño Dest to hit the bricks just weeks after having told him he was in their plans. Another player being repeatedly told to go away, Samuel Umtiti, found a solution, going on loan to Serie A side Lecce on Thursday.

That move appears to have done just enough to satisfy LaLiga, who approved Koundé on Friday. Koundé can now legally take the field for Barca, and all it took was a month of wild scrambling that have significantly reduced the club’s international standing and required financial lever-pulling that will likely hang over the institution for years and years.

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Barcelona register most of their new signings after feverish lever-pulling

Barca wriggled out of yet another financial jam

Barcelona wriggled out of their latest jam, with La Liga allowing them to register most of their summer signings ahead of Saturday’s season opening game against Rayo Vallecano.

Despite being a reported €1.3 billion in debt, making it beyond impossible for them to make any transfers, the Catalan giants have been carrying on like they could just make their normal, big-money transfers to improve a squad that finished 13 points behind Real Madrid last season.

Somehow, they’ve gotten away with it. New signings Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Franck Kessié, and Andreas Christiansen have all been successfully registered with La Liga, making them eligible to play against Rayo.

Ousmane Dembélé and Sergi Roberto, who signed new contracts this summer and were also in danger of not being registered, have also apparently been approved, leaving Jules Koundé as the lone player out in the cold at the moment.

Ignoring the reality that financial fair play rules left them €144 million below a league-imposed spending limit—the only top-flight Spanish team in that situation—Barca went out and signed Lewandowski for €50 million. They then spent even more to add Raphinha from Leeds, and to bring Koundé over from Sevilla, taking their outgoing transfer expenditures up to €164 million.

Even free transfers like Kessié and Christiansen came over from Milan and Chelsea. There would be no discount shopping for Barcelona, who were intent on driving a Bentley no matter how much their budget said they needed to consider a year or two in a still-luxurious BMW.

Barca’s new board began referring to having “financial levers” to pull, and they sure did pull a lot of them. The club sold off half of its future domestic television rights in two such deals, and sold 49% of Barca Studios in two other deals. Earlier this week, they brought in €100 million from the GDA Luma investment fund for 24.5% of their content arm and production studio.

Barca Studios was only opened last year, around the time that they were unable to register multiple players because they were in violation of financial fair play rules for 2021-22. Leo Messi left, Gerard Pique accepted a pay cut, and everyone thought that maybe this humiliation would shake them into action.

And yet, little appears to have changed. Koundé, who Barcelona spent around €54 million to sign? Not registered! Pique, a club legend who already took a pay cut to help the club in their time of need? Relevo has reported that negotiations over another pay cut have stalled.

By the way, Barcelona is still trying to bring Marcos Alonso in from Chelsea, a situation that seems at an impasse while Frenkie de Jong—who Barca have seemingly wanted to push out the door all summer—weighs up whether he wants to head to London as part of the deal.

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Barcelona continues ‘pulling the levers’ with €55m Jules Koundé signing

For a club in overwhelming debt, Barcelona sure can splash out the cash

Barcelona has announced an agreement with Sevilla over the transfer of France defender Jules Koundé.

All that remains for Koundé to officially join the Blaugrana is a medical and his contract being signed.

The 23-year-old had been heavily linked with a move to Chelsea, but Barcelona has managed to steal in at the last instant and seal a deal for one of Europe’s most highly rated young defenders.

Koundé’s arrival, reportedly for around €55 million, continues a busy summer for Barcelona, which has also signed Pablo Torre, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski.

But hold on. Isn’t Barcelona supposed to be, you know, massively in debt? Well, the answer is yes! So how can they pull these many signings off?

Barcelona pulling the ‘levers’

Bayern Munich head coach Julian Nagelsmann perhaps put it best this month after Barca had signed Lewandowski from his club.

“It is the only club in the world that have no money, but then buy all the players they want,” Nagelsmann said. “I don’t know how they do it. It’s a bit strange, a bit crazy.”

There is, however, a pretty simple explanation as to how Barcelona, which has over €1 billion in debts, can pay out so many high transfer fees.

Last month Barcelona’s members, who collectively own the club, voted to allow president Joan Laporta to activate what have become known as economic “levers,” essentially mortgaging the club’s future in exchange for a short-term injection of cash.

This summer, Barcelona has sold 25 percent of the club’s domestic TV rights for the next 25 years to American investment firm Sixth Street. Those sales have so far raised €582 million, enough to comfortably cover the club’s summer spending.

The club also has plans to sell 49.9% of its merchandising operation in the near future.

It is a clear risk for Barcelona but one the club felt was worth it after a season without any trophies. That will put even more pressure on the new signings, as well as the players still there, to deliver in 2022-23.

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Tuchel angry with Barcelona over Azpilicueta pursuit as Koundé arrival nears

“I’m not sure if I want to give Azpi what he wants”

ORLANDO — Chelsea’s defensive overhaul is starting to take shape.

Kalidou Koulibaly completed his £34 million transfer from Napoli last week, and Jules Koundé is reportedly set to join — despite a noncommittal response from manager Thomas Tuchel during Friday’s Florida Cup media day at Universal Studios.

Chelsea will face London rival Arsenal at 8 p.m. ET on Saturday in a preseason friendly at Camping World Stadium.

“I will not give an update,” Tuchel told reporters when asked about Sevilla defender Koundé. “I’m not sure if it’s true.” The Guardian reported that a deal has been reached for around £55 million, and the 23-year-old Frenchman will sign a five-year contract.

Koundé offers flexibility on the right side of defense, perhaps on the outside of Tuchel’s preferred back-three formation. That raised the question of whether Koundé’s addition could allow César Azpilicueta to make his preferred move to Barcelona.

Tuchel expressed aggravation at Barcelona’s advances toward Azpilicueta, who is contracted to Chelsea through next summer.

“I’m not sure if I want to give Azpi what he wants,” Tuchel said. “At some point, it’s also about us.”

Tuchel believes Azpilicueta, who joined the Blues in August 2012, will handle the situation professionally despite Barcelona being “permanently on him.”

Chelsea might not yet be done shopping for defenders. Tuchel expressed a desire for a left-footer to complement Thiago Silva, Kounde and Koulibaly, though the Senegalese star can operate on the left.

The Blues have been linked with a move for PSG’s Presnel Kimpembe and RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol, though it is unclear if either deal will go through.

Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen departed the club earlier this summer on free transfers, to Real Madrid and Barcelona, respectively.

“We need numbers, but we also need quality,” Tuchel said. “We will make some decisions late, not only about players but also about system.”

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