How Francisco Trincao deal helped Barcelona register Marcus Rashford as No. 14? La Liga FFP explained

When Barcelona kick off their La Liga campaign against Mallorca on Saturday evening, Marcus Rashford will be among the players eligible to play. According to Spanish media reports, Hansi Flick's Barcelona was expecting the Manchester United loanee's registration "at any moment" because he had received financial approval from LaLiga.

Rashford's registration was delayed due to bureaucratic issues. The Federation requested the player's international transfer after his registration was about to be formalised, and LaLiga was waiting for the form to be sent to give him a number.

Barcelona had sent all of Rashford's documents for registration on Saturday itself, immediately after the Francisco Trincao money came. Agent Jorge Mendes is said to have played an instrumental role in the unexpected closing of winger Trincao's rights to Sporting Lisbon. According to Sport.ES, the agent has generated almost 30 million in fair play for Barcelona in recent weeks. The transaction already generated sufficient fair play for the Englishman's registration, and he is now included in the squad as Barcelona's number 14.

Without this money it would have been impossible to issue numbers to Barcelona's new signings including Rashdord.

Understanding La Liga FFP rules and player registration

As per La Liga's financial fair play (FFP) rules, all clubs must maintain a strict squad cost limit. They are strict, in that a team can only spend on salaries and new signings if they stay under that limit. Thus, even if you are the defending champions, they can’t register new players, including those signed in the recent transfer window. In other words, the team's ability to register players depends on showing La Liga that they’re generating enough money to stay under the wage cap.

However, under La Liga’s financial rules, cash received from player sales counts as income, which increases Barça’s salary cap space. 

How did Francisco Trincao save the day?

When Barcelona sold Portuguese Francisco Trincao to Sporting CP in 2023 for €21 million, they didn’t sell 100% of his rights. According to reports, the Catalan side only sold 50% of his economic rights to Sporting, meaning the Lisbon side owns half of his transfer value, and Barcelona the other. As long as this exists, Barcelona will get half the amount of Trincao's transfer from Sporting.

After Mendes stepped in, Sporting agreed to buy the remaining 50% of Trincao’s rights from Barça, effectively ensuring the La Liga champions a few million Euros.

So, by selling Trincao’s remaining rights, FCB in effect managed to generate extra income which raised their cap.