Barcelona are far from a well-run club it once was and their off-field problems are now starting to interfere with their said rebuilding process. The Catalan side have been banned by La Liga from signing any more players during the summer transfer window until they sort out their financial issues. Teams in Spain are operating under strict financial guidelines following the COVID-19 pandemic. Barcelona Must Sell Players Before Signing Memphis Depay.

Following the humiliation in the Champions League at the hands of Bayern Munich, Barcelona sacked manager Quique Setienand appointed Ronald Koeman as his replacement. The Dutch manager is looking to rebuild the squad and has identified Memphis Depay and Liverpool’s Gini Wijnaldum as his main targets but the club have to wait if they are to sign those players. Barcelona Suffer Huge Blow in Memphis Depay Pursuit As Lyon Give Striker New Squad Number.

Barcelona are in a financial crisis and are struggling with a £510million-a-year wage bill and according to the rules by La Liga, the club must first raise money by sales if they want to sign any more players. The Spanish government provided financial aid to the teams amid coronavirus pandemic and clubs need to pay the amount they spend in transfer fees back to the government.

La Liga has given every club in the top division a limit of how much they can spend on transfers and staff dependent on their financial results in the past five years. ‘We have a financial system, which goes beyond UEFA’s Financial Fair Play’ said Joris Evers, La Liga's director of communications.

‘At UEFA they look at figures when a season is finished, we set the standards before the season starts. If Barcelona try to do a deal behind the scenes, our analysts will notice this immediately. The clubs agreed on this system as a reaction on a period when they were struggling to pay the wages of the players,’ he added.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 20, 2020 09:35 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).