As matchday 2 approaches in La Liga, several teams are still struggling to fit players into their salary limits this summer. Barcelona are no doubt the most well-documented case, but they are far from the only ones that look as if they will be forced to sell in the coming weeks.
The Blaugrana did manage to register almost all of their new recruits last Friday, but Jules Kounde remains unregistered and it seems unlikely that he will be available for Barcelona’s away fixture with Real Sociedad.
Getafe have also made a considerable recruitment effort this summer by their standards, bringing in Luis Milla, Domingos Duarte, Portu and Borja Mayoral. However they are yet to inscribe new goalkeeper Kiko Casilla, who was at Elche on loan last season.
Freshly promoted Almeria are also yet to register the likes of Leo Baptistao, Fernando Pacheco and Houboulang Mendes. It had been assumed that they would bring in a large sale from Umar Sadiq, but the Nigerian remains at the club for now.
The most extreme case is Real Betis. Veterans Joaquin, Andres Guardado and Claudio Bravo all renewed their contracts this summer and have not been registered. Willian Jose’s loan deal was made permanent and fellow Brazilians Luiz Henrique and Luiz Felipe are also yet to be made official with La Liga.
In total, Manuel Pellegrini could be without 11 players for their upcoming match with Real Mallorca, with five players injured. With no major sale on the immediate horizon, it certainly paints a worrying picture for Los Verdiblancos.
Buying players by a club is one thing while registering them smoothly for the league is another. It’s unending frustration.