La Liga blocks Barcelona from registering new players

GAMBLE: Polish forward Robert Lewandowski, right, and FC Barcelona President Joan Laporta react, during the striker's official presentation. Pic: AP Photo/Joan Monfort

Barcelona still cannot register their summer signings after La Liga rejected an attempt to use the club’s own funds to inflate the value of two of the asset sales they had resorted to in order to balance the books and strengthen their team.

The intention now is to turn to a fourth source of extraordinary income with the sale of a further 25% of their content production company, Barça Studios, for an estimated €100m in the hope that it will allow them to include new arrivals such as Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen and Jules Koundé in the squad for their opening game against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday night.