Barça clear to register their new signings!

The agreement between LaLiga and the CVC investment fund may have an immediate impact on FC Barcelona. As soon as the agreement is endorsed by the league's Delegate Committee, and once its General Assembly has been held, Barça will be able to officially register their new signings.

As established in the coordination agreement signed by the RFEF and LaLiga on 3 July 2019, it is LaLiga that is responsible for the "processing, dispatch and provisional registration of professional players' licences", with these being subsequently processed by the Spanish Football Federation. 

Other than Emerson Royal, who was a permanent transfer from Real Betis, Barça's three other summer signings - Aguero, Eric García and Memphis - have all arrived as free agents. It turns out that these players don't need to be officially registered by 31 August, which marks the end of the summer transfer window. The same applies to Leo Messi, who is close to signing a new contract with the club.

All of this is covered in the regulations of the Spanish Football Federation, with article 124 of its General Regulation stating "Football players may only formalise their registration during the periods established for this purpose. In those categories where there are two registration periods, the first registration period shall be between the beginning of the season and the start of the domestic championship of the respective state-level categories, and shall never last longer than twelve weeks. The second registration period shall be established in the middle of the season and its duration shall not exceed four weeks". Importantly, this is followed by a clause which states "No player may be registered outside the authorised periods, except in the exceptional circumstances set out in paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article".

Leo Messi, Eric García, Memphis Depay and Sergio Aguero, who have been free agents since 30 June, are all covered by article two, which reads: "As an exception to the general provision contained in the previous section, footballers with a "P" or "PRF" licence whose contracts expired before the end of the two licence application periods may be registered outside the two licence application periods". Barça would therefore be able to register these players beyond the 31 August deadline, as long as they have sufficient spaces in their 25-man squad.

There could, however, be an issue with registrations for the UEFA Champions League. If Messi is not registered for the competition by the start of September, he won't be able to participate in the group stage which is due to last from 14 September to 7 December. His registration would have to wait until the January transfer window, which would allow him to play in the round of 16 in mid-February.

This issue looks set to be solved once the league secures this cash injection.