Barcelona finally register Jules Kounde with La Liga
By Sean Walsh
Barcelona have at last managed to free up enough financial space to register new signing Jules Kounde with La Liga.
The France defender joined the Blaugrana from Sevilla last month after rejecting the advances of Chelsea, who had pursued his signature for almost a year.
However, Kounde has not been able to make his official debut for Barça yet due to financial restraints preventing the club from registering him with La Liga.
It was plausible that Barcelona could have opened the new season without any of their new signings registered - a scenario which would have seen Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen able to leave on free transfers. By the opening weekend of the campaign, only Kounde remain unregistered.
However, it is now being widely reported in Spain and over Europe that Kounde is now eligible to make his first appearance for Barcelona against Real Valladolid this weekend after finally agreeing his registration with La Liga.
Scott Saunders, Graeme Bailey & Toby Cudworth bring you Talking Transfers, discussing Lucas Paqueta's potential move to West Ham, Chelsea's plans to sign Anthony Gordon, Wesley Fofana and Arsen Zakharyan and the latest from Old Trafford. Available on all audio platforms and the 90min YouTube channel.
If you can't see the podcast embed, click here to download the episode in full!
Fellow French centre-back Samuel Umtiti left for Italian side Lecce on Thursday while some players have agreed to waive certain add-ons in their contracts for now in order to free up the room Barça required to register Kounde.
Xavi's side are looking to pick up their first home win of the season on Sunday after drawing 0-0 with Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou on the opening weekend of the new La Liga campaign.