FC Barcelona's nightmarish Christmas

When we talk about the end-of-year celebrations, we always think of festive and joyful atmospheres, hearty and friendly meals, family moments, gifts, and many other things… But for the leaders of the FC Barcelona, ​​the Yule log may be a little bitter. Indeed, Joan Laporta, Deco and company are facing many problems that will prevent them from fully enjoying these holidays, forcing them to lock themselves in their office and be on the phone for long hours. Of course, first there is the sporting situation of the team, which has only won one of its last seven La Liga matches. A hell of a headache which, however, risks above all spoiling the holidays for Hansi Flick, who will surely ruminate and look for solutions to get out of the crisis during the next two weeks.

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Management, for its part, must face other problems, mainly administrative. The Dani Olmo case is complex, and as the deadline to register him with La Liga approaches – December 31 – the situation does not seem to be moving forward. The Catalan club says it is confident, but the fact remains that in a week, if the player is not registered with the championship, he will not be able to play in the second half of the season and will even be able to leave the club freely thanks to a clause in his contract. Same case for Pau Victor. Barça hopes that justice will prove them right and force La Liga to accept the registration of players under the pretext that the league management is preventing players from practicing their profession. Otherwise, funds will have to be found elsewhere and the record deal with Nike will not be enough. A deal for the sale of VIP places at Camp Nou could be completed in the final sprint. But seeing Olmo slip away for free six months after his arrival would be, whatever happens, a terrible admission of failure and incompetence.

Laporta has work!

In addition to this very difficult file, there is also the case of the stadium to manage. The work at Camp Nou has fallen behind schedule, and the Blaugranas will not be able to return to their usual venue from the start of 2025 as planned. They will therefore still have to stay in Montjuic, but there is a problem: the town hall has already requisitioned the stadium for various events and the club's Champions League matches – in the event of qualification – will not be able to take place there. It is therefore impossible to host these European meetings at Montjuic or at Camp Nou: Barça must find a new stadium for the Champions League and the option of going to play in Madrid at the Metropolitano or at Mestalla in Valencia is up for grabs. 'study. It is also possible to see the Blaugrana play in Cornellà, next door to Espanyol, but the number of places is quite limited. It’s quite a tedious affair since organizing matches away from one’s stadium is always difficult for reasons of timing, logistics, security and much more…

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Then, what transfer window for the Catalans? A priori, he will be calm. If Hansi Flick and Deco wanted to strengthen certain positions, like the two full-backs, they will have to wait until next summer, and unless there is a big sale, there will be no arrival. However, there too, there will be work. The Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo cases continue to cause major headaches for management. Both are at the end of their contract in 2026 and the negotiations are not really progressing, forcing the Barcelonans to be increasingly tough: rapid extension, or sale next summer. The club clearly does not want to risk seeing them leave for free, and discussions with those around the two players are quite intense. You will have understood, Joan Laporta has his work cut out for him, but not to add foie gras!