Barcelona have finally registered summer signing Jules Kounde as a member of their squad for the 2022-23 season.
The defender joined Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessie, and Andreas Christensen as Barcelona’s summer signings when he moved from Sevilla to Camp Nou in July.
However, due to the Catalan giants’ financial predicament and the La Liga pay cap, four of their five signings had to wait until the eve of the new season.
The only player who was not registered was Kounde, who had missed Barcelona’s first two league games.
However, according to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Barcelona have now concluded the registration of the France international.
🚨 Jules Kounde understood to have been registered by Barcelona with La Liga today + available to face Real Valladolid on Sun. 23yo defender was last of signings needing clearance to play league games; believe that is now sorted @TheAthleticUK #FCBarcelona https://t.co/FhRpMEeGEK
— David Ornstein (@David_Ornstein) August 26, 2022
However, following Samuel Umtiti’s loan move to Lecce, it appears that the Spanish giants have found enough finances to sign the Frenchman.
See Also: Barcelona Confirm Samuel Umtiti Loan To Lecce
Despite not being registered with the club, Kounde wore Umititi’s old No. 23 shirt in two recent friendlies — against Pumas and the midweek clash against Manchester City.
The 23-year-old joined the Spanish club in July for a cost of £56m, after almost joining Chelsea in the Premier League. Barcelona is reported to have decreased several add-ons from current players’ contracts in order to complete Kounde’s registration.
Barcelona has struggled to sign players this summer due to financial uncertainties at the club and concerns with La Liga’s pay cap.
However, the club have been busy in the transfer market, registering new additions Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen, and Franck Kessie before their first game of the season.
They also managed to obtain spots for Ousmane Dembele and Sergi Roberto, who had to be re-registered after their contracts expired and before they could sign new terms with the club.
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