FC Barcelona faces Como of Italy this Sunday in the 60th edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy, with the expectation of presenting the three reinforcements signed in the current summer market to the azulgrana fans. After Saturday's training, Joan García, Roony Bardghji and Marcus Rashford posed with the trophy at the Tito Vilanova Field of the Ciutat Esportiva.
Although the three players already had minutes in the friendlies of the Asian tour, this will be their first performance on Catalan soil. The Johan Cruyff Stadium, with 6,000 spectators in its stands, will receive the goalkeeper and the two forwards who arrive to reinforce a squad that aspires to win everything in 2026, with the leadership of Hansi Flick.
García, Bardghji and Rashford, ready for the Gamper and waiting for their registration
Both Joan, Roony and Marcus arrive at the Gamper in full condition. The goalkeeper conceded a goal against Vissel Kobe (1-3) and a couple more against FC Seoul (3-7), while against Daegu (0-5) he kept his goal at zero during the first 45 minutes.
With the '1' on his back, the Catalan looked confident under the sticks and, now, it remains to be defined what his number will be next season, understanding that Ter Stegen will continue in the azulgrana squad at least until January. Bardghji, for his part, had a goalscoring debut in Japan, but could not extend the streak in the two matches played in Korea.
Who did add his first goal and assist against Seoul and Daegu, respectively, was Rashford. The Englishman was very active as a left winger and center forward, exhibiting part of the repertoire that he can contribute as an offensive variant for Flick.
Barça, however, still has to resolve the registration of its three reinforcements this week, prior to the debut in La Liga next Saturday against Mallorca. Unless there is a surprise, Roony will have a subsidiary team card thanks to his age (19), although it is not expected that he will add minutes in Segunda RFEF with Juliano Belletti's team.
Will Barça be able to count on its three reinforcements for the debut in La Liga?
At the moment, Barcelona has 20 players registered in the LaLiga 25/26 list. Two of them, Ansu Fati and Iñigo Martínez, are no longer part of the club. The first one left on loan to Monaco last month, while the center-back signed for Al Nassr Saudi as a free agent.
The departure of the '5' allows the club to free up the 14 million gross of his salary, but while Barça cannot operate under the 1:1 rule, it will only be able to reuse 60% of this amount. In that sense, the board hopes to have the 'Ok' from the employers to its accounting report for the 24/25 financial year to compute the 100 million derived from the operation with the VIP seats of the Spotify Camp Nou.
Once this income is registered, the culés will return to 1:1, managing to register the seven players who are still waiting for their federative license. In addition to Joan García, Roony Bardghji and Marcus Rashford, Wojciech Szczesny, Héctor Fort, Gerard Martín and Marc Bernal are also waiting for their registration, the last three with a subsidiary team card last year.
Thus, the board maintains full confidence in resolving all pending folders this week, before the debut in La Liga in Mallorca, although everything is in the hands of the employers. The other key movement to unlock the registrations is Ter Stegen's injury. The club has already sent the medical report, waiting to be able to save 80% of his salary through his absence for more than 4 months.