Barcelona still unable to register new signing as Lewandowski opens his account

FC Barcelona is running out of time to register Jules Kounde with La Liga before the deadline on August 31. Meanwhile, fellow summer signing Robert Lewandowski is already making waves when he opened his account with the club by scoring his first competitive goal in a Barcelona shirt.

On Sunday, the Blaugrana visited Real Sociedad and logged a convincing 4-1 victory at the Reale Arena. Lewandowski was celebrating his 34th birthday, and he did so in style by scoring his first official goal as a Barcelona player. He also did it in the first minute of the match, making it all that more impressive and meaningful.

The Polish marksman faced some doubts during the pre-season when it took him a few games before finding the back of the net with his new club. However, he has remained patient and calm and managed to score a brace in Sunday's match.

Lewandowski's first goal came off a cross from Alejandro Balde, which he sent to the back of the net with his first touch of the match. It was a sensational run from the 18-year-old, who powered through most of the pitch solo before picking out the striker.

Aleksandr Isak found an equaliser just five minutes later, but the second half allowed Barcelona to pull away with another goal from Lewandowski as well as contributions from Ousmane Dembele and Ansu Fati.

The atmosphere is chipper at the Camp Nou, but a shadow hangs over the squad thanks to the problems with Jules Kounde's registration. Despite activating four economic levers, Barcelona have not done enough to fit him into the salary cap.

The club is still at the mercy of La Liga's Financial Fair Play rules, and manager Xavi Hernandez admitted that the situation is concerning. "It bothers us all but Mateu (Alemany) and Jordi (Cruyff) are doing an extraordinary job," he said, as quoted by Marca from a press conference over the weekend.

"It bothers me because we signed him to play and he understands that," he added, before calling for more patience. "Let's wait for the next week, let's see if there is luck in this."

Barcelona are still in the process of finding ways to sell more players, with deals currently in progress for the departures of Sergino Dest, Memphis Depay and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.