Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is already throwing up problems for Barcelona... because they may have to leave him out of their Europa League squad.
The 32-year-old former Arsenal skipper bid farewell to the Gunners fans following the club's confirmation the striker had left by mutual consent, and joins the Blaugrana on an 18-month deal.
Aubameyang's switch has been made possible by the player agreeing to terminate his deal at the Emirates Stadium, a deal which ensures Arsenal will save around £25m in wages over the course of the remainder of his contract in North London.
He moves to Camp Nou despite the particularly perilous financial situation Barcelona find themelves in.
But they appear to have put that behind them in January as they signed Aubameyang, Dani Alves, Ferran Torres and Adama Traore.
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However, the Spaniard will be unable to call upon all four of the club's new summer signings in the competition due to UEFA regulations which state that only three new registered signings can participate once the competition resumes.
One of Traore, Torres, Alves and Aubameyang will duly be left out of the squad tasked with securing some form of European silverware this season.
That is unlikely to be £50million ex-Man City star Torres or returning loan star Traore, thus seemingly pitching the two veterans in opposition for the final spot.
There were late fears on deadline day that Aubameyang's move to Barcelona would be scuppered due to Ousmane Dembele's reluctance to leave the club and make room for his former Borussia Dortmund teammate on the wage bill.
"He [Dembele] has decided to stay here. It makes no sense. It is bad for him or bad for the club," Laporta explained.
"Extending the contract would have allowed us to extend our [financial] fair play [capacity].
"We were working until the last minute, until 12am with Aubameyang and it was difficult. We think he [Dembele] has an agreement with another club for the summer.
"This is what the agent explained to us. I don’t know what they think but we will act in the interests of the club."
Aubameyang could be in line to make his La Liga debut against Atletico Madrid this Sunday, if he can prove his fitness, having not played for almost two months.
