Drama in Spanish football! LaLiga faces an enrollment chaos

Enrollments are the main headache for FC Barcelona in the final stretch for the start of LaLiga 2025/26. For the third summer in a row, the club has problems enabling all its reinforcements for matchday 1 of the tournament, but it is not only the 'culés' who have problems of this type due to the financial 'Fair Play'.

For the moment, Barça has 18 players registered in its squad, including the injured Marc-André ter Stegen. The newcomers Joan García, Marcus Rashford and Roony Bardghji are still awaiting registration, the latter with the option of receiving a license from the subsidiary thanks to his age (19).

Wojciech Szczesny, Gerard Martín, Marc Bernal and Héctor Fort must also resolve their respective federative licenses, the latter two also with the possibility of remaining in the Barça Atlètic squad. The most urgent situation is that of García, since Iñaki Peña, for now, is the only first team goalkeeper authorized to play.

Beyond the 'azulgrana' panorama and the noise generated by the registration of their reinforcements, there are other teams with much more serious problems just over 48 hours before the official start of the 25/26 season. Below, we review the current situation of the squads of the other 19 First Division clubs and the players enabled on the official LaLiga website.

Celta and Elche, in trouble to resolve their registrations in LaLiga

Alavés, like Barça, has only 18 players registered. Among their signings for 25/26, only Mariano Díaz (arrived on a free transfer) is missing from the list of the employers' association. Athletic, meanwhile, has 24 of its 25 places occupied. 

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In the case of Atlético, for now the team that has invested the most in the summer market (€175 million in 9 signings) has 23 players registered. The situation of Celta is much more complex.

The Galicians, two days before the start of the season, have only registered 14 players and still have to resolve the licenses of the six signings they have made so far. Among them are former 'culés' Ilaix Moriba and Ferrán Jutglà.

For its part, Elche has only 13 players enabled for its debut against Betis next Monday, without any goalkeeper available in the first team. The Elche team returns to Primera, but still has the bulk of its squad (9) to register.

The drama of Levante: only three registered three days before their debut

Less complex, for now, is the situation of Espanyol. The 'pericos' have 19 registered players, six more than Getafe. The 'azulones' also have only 13 players enabled and less room for maneuver, as they debut on Sunday.

On the other hand, Girona has done a good part of its homework, with 21 players available for the debut in 25/26. However, the most dramatic situation is that of Levante. The 'granota' team, another of the recently promoted teams, has only registered one defender, one midfielder and one forward. Yes, they only have three players registered and debut this Saturday against Alavés.

Barça's first rival in 25/26, Mallorca, has enabled 21 places in its squad, but may suffer up to five casualties in the final stretch of the summer market. Osasuna (19) and Rayo (20) will also have no problems for their debut in La Liga this year.

A different reality to that of Betis. The 'verdiblancos' have only registered 17 players and still have to resolve the licenses of six of their eight signings in the current market.

Real Madrid has its 25 places filled in the squad

As usual, Real Madrid will also have no problems with its squad and already has 25 players registered, 27 counting the youth players Diego Aguado and Fortea, in addition to the third goalkeeper, Fran González.

Of the recently promoted teams, Oviedo (18) is the only one without problems due to registrations, even with three more players enabled than Sevilla (15). Real Sociedad, meanwhile, has 19 players available in its squad.

Finally, Valencia and Villarreal also have their folders in order for the moment, with 24 and 21 players registered, respectively. In this way, less than three days before the start of LaLiga 24/25, there are 365 places occupied out of the 500 authorized for First Division players (25 per club, not counting reserve players), that is, 27% of the places are still free. 

The reasons for the usual chaos in the final stretch for the start of the season lie in the 'Fair Play' financial regulations. The sports squad cost limit (LCPD) and the 1:1 rule are a headache for most, since year after year the employers' association puts new obstacles to compute income and, therefore, to expand the available salary margin.