Barcelona president Joan Laporta has confirmed Barcelona have signed two players, but he claims he isn’t allowed to name them.
Speaking to RAC1, Laporta said: “We’ve completed two signings for the next season. One is a midfielder, the other one is a centre back. But I’m not allowed to mention their names.”
Both Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie have been heavily linked with Barcelona, and Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that both players have agreed deals with the club, as seen in the tweet below.
Barça president Laporta confirms: "We've completed two signings for the next season: one is a midfielder, the other one is a centre-back. But I'm not allowed to mention their names". ??? #FCB
Of course, Franck Kessié and Andreas Christensen deals are both fully agreed.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) March 28, 2022
Both players were allowed to speak to Barcelona, due to their contracts expiring at the end of the season. Players can agree a ‘pre-contract agreement’ with clubs from around Europe, before their contract ends.
Due to their financial problems, raiding the free-transfer market was necessary for Barcelona. A lot of players were out of contract this summer, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
A lot of clubs didn’t offer new deals to players due to bringing in significantly less revenue, with games being played behind closed doors.
Barcelona suffered more than a lot of clubs, but a new deal with Spotify has seem to help them remarkably. ESPN claim the deal could be worth €280m.