Barca deliver debuts

RAPHINHA, Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen made their Barcelona debuts last night in a 0-0 draw with Rayo Vallecano, after the debtridden Catalan club raised 100million euros to satisfy LaLiga financial regulations on the eve of the new season.

The breach of rules barred Barcelona from registering new players but the quartet were given the go-ahead to play after the club sold 24.5 per cent of production company Barca Studios to Orpheus Media for 100m euros (£84.5m) on Friday.

Jules Kounde, who signed from Sevilla, remains unregistered as Barca look to free up more of their wage bill and continue to offset losses and reduce debt.

Their attempt to offload Dutch midfielder Frenkie de Jong, linked with Manchester United and Chelsea, has so far proved fruitless with the player seemingly unwilling to leave Spain.