Barcelona put pressure on Man Utd by revealing deadline for registering new signings
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has revealed the deadline by which Barcelona must register their hoard of new players, putting pressure on Manchester United to conclude a transfer for Frenkie de Jong.
Despite the financial uncertainty surrounding the club, Barcelona have spent lavishly this summer on the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Jules Kounde and Raphinha, while Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie have also arrived on free transfers.
However, none of those new signings have been registered with La Liga yet ahead of the new season, with Barça hoping De Jong's sale to United will balance the books and smoothen that process.
Speaking at Kounde's unveiling as a Barcelona player, Laporta revealed that the club was working hard to register their new arrivals within the next fortnight.
"We are doing everything possible to register the signings," he said. "We have to do it before 13 August."
The club president claimed he was 'optimistic' they would get it done and added: "Let's hope that the league sees it that way too."
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Although an €85m fee has been agreed, De Jong's proposed move to Man Utd has stalled in recent weeks as he is owed as much as £17m in earnings after taking a pay cut during the coronavirus pandemic.
Barcelona have yet to indicate they will pay the money back to the player and 90min understands the situation has reached the point where United are prepared to force through a transfer by contributing to the repayment of deferred wages owed to the midfielder.