In a major development that will come as a big relief for the plans, Barcelona are soon expected to complete the registration of Jules Kounde, irrespective of whether Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang stays or leaves for Chelsea.
This claim comes from Diario AS journalist Manu Sainz, who reports that the two operations are no longer correlated and Barça can press ahead with their registration of Kounde regardless of Aubameyang’s sale.
Having signed Kounde from Sevilla, Barcelona failed to register him along with their other new signings on the eve of their first La Liga game of the season against Rayo Vallecano.
While the expectation was that the club could sort out the problem before the second game against Real Sociedad, things did not turn out that way, with the French defender reportedly getting frustrated over the situation.
It was reported that Barcelona needed at least €20 million to register the former Bordeaux starlet, which they hoped to accomplish with the sale of Aubameyang, who is said to be closing in on a move to Chelsea.
But, as per the latest update from Sainz, the Catalans can go ahead with registering Kounde without having to sell Aubameyang.
While the exact reason behind this has not been explained by the journalist, he claims that Barça submitted new paperwork to La Liga, which has been approved, making the registration possible without Aubameyang’s departure.
It could potentially have been made possible by one or more players accepting salary cuts – Barça had been in talks with their club captains over wage reductions.
A clearer picture of the situation should emerge in the coming hours. If this is indeed true, Barça may not have to offload Aubameyang, although the club could go ahead with his departure as they also plan to bring in two new full-backs.