Barcelona working to register veteran star as priority before Levante clash – report
Barcelona continue their efforts to register all their players in La Liga. The champions already managed to register Joan Garcia and Marcus Rashford in time for the opening league fixture against RCD Mallorca.
But the likes of Wojciech Szczesny, Marc Bernal, Gerard Martin, and Roony Bardghji all remain unregistered thus far.
‘Operation Szczesny’ underway
Now, according to SPORT, the current priority for Barcelona is to register veteran goalkeeper Szczesny, who was left out of the squad against Mallorca.
The sporting management is working against the clock, as manager Hansi Flick is eager to return to normality as soon as possible.
At Barcelona, there is confidence that the transfer window will close with the 1:1 rule met, but calculations are ongoing to ensure Szczesny can be registered immediately.
Barcelona need to finalise the departures of Oriol Romeu and Inaki Pena in the coming days to create the necessary space for the Polish international.
What’s the situation with Romeu and Pena?
The priority is to reach a termination agreement with Romeu, in which both sides will need to compromise. Negotiations are ongoing, and an agreement is expected soon.
The preferred option was to grant him a free transfer while saving the entirety of his salary. However, this is no longer possible at this stage of the summer.
Contacts were initiated too late, and Barça will now have to make concessions and accept to pay a part of his salary, as the number of potential destinations for the player has dwindled as the days have passed.
The case of Pena could be resolved more quickly. Barcelona would renew his contract for one year, redistributing part of the wages owed to him this season, and then facilitate a loan exit on a more manageable salary for interested clubs.
Serie A side Como would be in a position to complete the deal before Wednesday under these new financial conditions, while Celta Vigo are still an option for the goalkeeper.
If both operations go through, Barcelona believe they will have enough margin to register Szczesny with the No. 25 shirt, allowing him to be available for selection against Levante.
