FC Barcelona has lost Lionel Messi and seen its iconic former player move to Paris Saint-Germain after being unable to fit his new contract into the financial restrictions imposed on Barcelona, but the problems are far from over for Barca president Joan Laporta on the verge of the new season.

Although Messi’s considerable wage bill is no longer an issue for the club, Barca has not been able to register any of its summer signings of Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero, Eric Garcia or Emerson Royal into their squad to compete in La Liga, because the club is still failing to meet La Liga’s financial conditions.

Barca has to reduce its wage bill to 73 percent of the club’s income before these players can be included, and according to reports in the Spanish media, that wage bill is still an unsustainable 95 percent of income.

That means the club has to either negotiate further wage reductions with the first team squad, or move players on before Friday, which is when the first squad list has to be submitted to La Liga.

Barca has some leeway with Aguero, who is out injured until November, but not with the other three players, and the club is looking to its highly paid veterans Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique, Sergi Roberto and Jordi Alba to all accept further cuts in the coming hours.

The good news for Barca is that the squad list the club has to present is not definitive and can be changed when the transfer window closes at the end of the month.

(Xinhua)