A genuine dilemma unsettles Barcelona ahead of the winter transfer window
The summer transfer window has only just closed, but Deco and his Barcelona recruitment team are already plotting for the winter market, which opens on 2 January.
The Catalan club have around 60 million euros to play with under Financial Fair Play rules, enough to get a deal over the line. Those funds could just as easily be redirected towards next season's salary limit, a limit that will take a serious hit from the return to the Lluís Companys stadium.
According to the newspaper Sport, citing sources at La Liga, Barça can move the amount available under Financial Fair Play across to boost next season's salary limit, as long as they submit the request before the winter window opens.
Only 75% of the funds the club want to transfer from Financial Fair Play will count towards the salary limit. That works out at around 45 million euros, should they decide to move the full amount.
Next season's ceiling will come in lower than this year's. Barcelona will spend the opening four months or so at the Lluís Companys stadium while the roof goes in at the Spotify Camp Nou.
Revenues will drop as a result, so shifting the Financial Fair Play budget across to the salary limit would be a smart way to soften the blow and stay inside the 1:1 rule.
Sport reckon the decision now sits firmly on Barcelona's table, and it is a genuine dilemma. Do they land a January signing that raises the ceiling of the squad? Or do they hand the 60 million euros of Financial Fair Play room over to next season's salary limit, trimming the losses from the Montjuïc spell and steering clear of a 1:1 breach?
