Barcelona not quite there yet! La Liga warns champions they still don't comply with financial rule preventing them from registering Nico Williams

Barcelona have yet to meet La Liga’s 1/1 financial fair play threshold required to freely register new players, according to Mundo Deportivo. Despite recent efforts to reduce the wage bill through departures such as Ansu Fati to Monaco and Clement Lenglet to Atletico Madrid, the club remain unable to meet full compliance due to unresolved financial shortfalls.

La Liga did not validate the €100 million (£84m/$107m) deal Barca executed in December 2024 involving the sale of future Camp Nou hospitality boxes. This deal, which was called off in April 2025, is still a big part of their ongoing fair play deficit.

Barca’s failure to meet financial regulations directly impacts their ability to register incoming players such as Athletic Club forward Williams, who even has gained interest from Bayern Munich. The club lost its 1/1 status in April after the Budget Validation Body determined it lacked a sufficient squad cost limit based on audited financial statements. Without this compliance, Barca cannot use 100% of released salary or sales revenue from player exits to register reinforcements.

The club have since taken a number of steps to minimise costs, such as letting players like Pablo Torre and Inaki Pena leave in the future. Yet, the restrictions will not go away until the €100m capital operation is fixed or a lot of new money comes in to balance it out.

Under the current rules of La Liga, non-1/1 compliant clubs can only use 60% of released salary towards new signings (or 70% for players whose salary is 5% or more of the squad's salary), and only 20% of player sale profits can be reinvested.

Barca will need to generate further income or capital transactions to regain 1/1 financial fair play status. Without this, they remain restricted in the summer transfer window. Until compliance is reached, prominent signings like Williams can't be officially registered. In the next few weeks, the club is likely to continue letting go of players to lower their wage bill.