Why it could be a long time until Ferran Torres plays for Barcelona

FT Desk

• 29 Dec 2021 20:50 GMT
• 3 min read

Ferran Torres completed his big-money transfer to Barcelona from Manchester City on December 28 but he will have to wait some time before he can make his debut for his new club.

Torres joined Barca for a fee of €55 million plus €10m in add-ons, signing a five-year contract at Camp Nou.

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He won’t officially be a Barcelona player until the winter transfer window opens on January 1.

But La Liga’s squad registration window doesn’t open until January 3, so Torres can’t be registered for the Spanish league until this date at the earliest.

Nevertheless, there is no guarantee that Torres will be allowed to register then for legal reasons.

Barcelona must cut salary bill to register Ferran Torres

Barcelona must ensure that the annual salary of their squad accounts for no more than 70 per cent of their income in order to comply with La Liga’s regulations.

Pedri and Ansu Fati have recently signed new contracts on improved terms, while Ousmane Dembele is expected to soon extend his contract that expires at the end of the season.

These contracts have increased Barcelona’s salary mass, which stood at 95% of their income when they were unable to renew Lionel Messi’s contract this past summer.

As a result, Messi moved to PSG on a Bosman Transfer and Barcelona were forced to only sign free transfers in the summer with Memphis Depay, Eric Garcia and the recently retired Sergio Aguero arriving for no fee.

Barcelona need to sell players or find a way to reduce their salary bill significantly in order to register Ferran Torres.

The Blaugrana’s next game is against Mallorca on January 2, which Torres will miss as it is a day before the registration window reopens.

Torres is also injured not at full fitness as he recovers from a fractured foot and it is said he won’t be ready for the Copa del Rey match against Linares Deportivo on January 5 and the trip to Granada on January 8.

The 21-year-old is expected to be fit to play again on January 12 when Barcelona face Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia.

Thus, this could be his debut for Barcelona, providing the club is able to reduce their salary mass and register Torres into their squad. His La Liga debut could arrive against Rayo Vallecano a week later on January 19.