FC Barcelona are entering the final stretch of pre-season with one familiar administrative task still outstanding, though the mood around it is notably calmer than in recent years. The Blaugranes are increasingly confident that none of their new arrivals will miss Sunday’s La Liga opener against Elche because of registration delays.
According to SPORT, Barcelona expect to complete the registration process for their first-team reinforcements in time for the trip to face Elche. The process was set to begin on Thursday, giving the club a clear window to finish the remaining paperwork before Hansi Flick names his matchday squad.
Rodri, who joined from Manchester City on a contract running until 2030, is the headline arrival expected to be cleared in time. Anthony Gordon, the first signing completed by the Catalans this summer, and Karim Adeyemi are also among the group Flick expects to have available. Hamza Abdelkarim, whose purchase option Barcelona exercised, is part of the same planning, while Jesse Bisiwu will be registered with the reserve team as part of the wider first-team setup.
The club is currently operating under La Liga’s 1:1 rule, which allows new signings to be registered without the stricter restrictions that complicated Barcelona’s business in previous windows, a shift explained in more detail in this look at Barcelona’s financial recovery under Joan Laporta. Even so, every registration must be backed by the required sporting and financial documentation, which is why the club wants the process wrapped up well before kick-off rather than in the final hours, a dynamic also visible in how Barcelona previously secured salary space for a new signing.
Joao Cancelo represents the one genuine point of uncertainty. The Portuguese full-back signed later than the other new arrivals, leaving less time to process his paperwork, and Barcelona’s own sourcing describes his availability against Elche as slightly less certain than the rest of the group. Andreas Christensen also requires fresh registration, not as a new signing but because his contract renewal until 2028 must still be formally lodged with the relevant documentation.