Barcelona new signing can leave for free if he is not registered before La Liga starts | OneFootball

With less than a week left for the start of the 2023/24 La Liga season, Barcelona have only 13 first-team players registered with the league at this point.

Of those, Ousmane Dembele and Franck Kessie are close to sealing their exits, which would leave Barça with only 11 registered players.

Naturally, there are some concerns as none of the new signings and the players who signed new contracts are yet to be registered with La Liga.

Gundogan could leave for free

Amidst this, journalist David Bernabeu Reverter is reporting that if Barcelona do not register Ilkay Gundogan before the start of the La Liga season, the player can leave the club for free.

The 32-year-old German international signed for Barça earlier this summer, arriving as a free agent after his contract with Manchester City had expired.

The Blaugrana made big efforts to sign Gundogan, convincing him to snub City as well as several other clubs pushing for his signing.

Gundogan joined Barcelona this summer. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

However, as we close in on the start of the season, there appears to be a slim chance that the former Manchester City captain could become a free agent if the Catalans are unable to get him registered by the time the season kicks off.

Barcelona confident of registering players soon

Amid growing concerns, though, Barcelona are confident that the registration of players will be taken care of soon.

Indeed, Gerard Romero is reporting that the La Liga champions will have everything sorted as far as the player registrations are concerned, by Friday or Saturday this week.

The Blaugrana were hoping to ensure the registration was done by means of the €60 million they receive for the sale of a 16% stake in Barça Studios.

However, there has been a delay in the operation, leading to uncertainties. The club, though, are convinced that the deal will go through this week.

It should help them register the new signings – Gundogan, Inigo Martinez, and Oriol Romeu, along with those who signed new contracts – Ronald Araujo, Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto, and Inaki Pena.

Barcelona begin their season with an away game against Getafe this coming Sunday (August 13), and they will hope that all the players are registered by then.