Barcelona were in real trouble when Ousmane Dembele was ruled out for the season through injury.

Dembele's injury left them desperately short of attacking players.

Thus, Barca appealed to La Liga to get special dispensation to sign a replacement.

Fortunately for them, their appeal was granted, and they've wasted no time in making their move.

That's because Martin Braithwaite is set to sign from Leganes in a €18m deal.

Braithwaite will come in and play a big role for Barcelona as they look for silverware under Quiche Setien.

But, while Barca will be pleased, Leganes will not be.

Leganes are currently battling for their lives near the bottom of La Liga.

With 19 points accumulated from their opening 21 games, Leganes are second bottom and in great danger of being relegated.

And now, to make matters worse, they are almost guaranteed to lose a key player.

Leganes also lost their star striker, Youssef En-Nesyri, to Sevilla in January, meaning they are seriously depleted up front.

They would not have wanted to lose Braithwaite but their hands were tied given Barca activated his release clause.

So, with Leganes short in attack, they appealed to La Liga to grant them special dispensation to sign a replacement.

La Liga decided to grant Barca that power but, according to Cadena Cope per football-espana, they have refused Leganes' request.

How is that fair?

Obviously, it's massively unlucky for Barcelona that Dembele and Suarez have both been given long-term injuries.

But they should have had adequate cover before their injuries. They knew Suarez was already injured in January and that they were short up front. Why didn't they just get cover then?

Barca also have multiple players in their youth teams that they could have brought up. It's not as if they were without options at all.

It's important to note that this isn't Barcelona's fault. They appealed to La Liga and, per the rule book, they were granted the ability to find a replacement.

But it seems wrong that they should be able to gain and Leganes are punished.

They simply could not do anything to prevent Braithwaite from leaving and it's not right. Especially when their La Liga status hangs in the balance.

Time will tell whether Leganes have the firepower to stay up. But, with Braithwaite leaving, it seems unlikely that they will be able to retain their La Liga status.