La Liga president Javier Tebas has confirmed that Barcelona have not yet returned to the 1:1 rule, hindering the club's plans for next season.
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Tebas speaks on Barca's transfer plansConfirms Garcia won't be registered straightawayNeed for sales to purchase WilliamsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
League chief Tebas has fired a warning to Barcelona ahead of the 2025-26 season. He has claimed the Catalans will not only face problems with the registration of new goalkeeper Joan Garcia, but will also have to offload a number of players and collect funds in order to pursue someone like Nico Williams without much hassle.
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Barcelona's struggles with handling their finances have been well-documented, with players like Dani Olmo and Pau Victor already going through registration drama back in January. La Liga made rigorous attempts to deregister Olmo, as a consequence of which the league cut the Catalans' salary limit in April.
After a successful season, in which Hansi Flick's men won La Liga, Copa del Rey, and Supercopa de Espana, they began bolstering their squad by triggering Garcia's €25 million (£21m/$29m) release clause at Espanyol. Barca are also closing in on signing Athletic Club star Williams, with whom they have reportedly reached a six-year agreement. La Blaugrana, however, insist on paying the 22-year-old's €62m (£53m/$71m) release clause in instalments, drawing the ire of the Basque side.
WHAT JAVIER TEBAS SAID
Speaking from Madrid's Esade Campus on Tuesday, Tebas first spoke about Garcia's registration. He said: "One thing is to make the signing of Joan Garcia official and another, to register him. They have to make movements and see which players they are going to decide… I hear so much… I don't know what is true of what is written. Barcelona is not in the 1:1 rule. I think the other day they announced the payment of Joan Garcia's clause, but I don't know if they have already done it, I don't understand much… Barca has to do things to be able to register him, not many, but they have to do things and they already know what they are, I'm not going to say them, but we don't even have dates, we'll see."
He then proceeded to talk about Barca's pursuit of Williams, stating: "I don't know, but in the end you hear so many [names]: Williams, the other one, the one with the motorcycle… First of all, that what has to be registered is true, which I don't know. But they don't yet meet the requirements to sign freely, they can't sign yet under the 1:1 rule. If they want Nico, they will have to sell and adjust their accounts a lot."
Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR BARCELONA?
The champions of La Liga will possibly have to make a number of sales before they can continue building their squad for the upcoming season. Per reports, Bayern Munich are keeping tabs on Fermin Lopez, while the future of centre-back Ronald Araujo is also up in the air.