The future of playmaker Dani Olmo at FC Barcelona remained very uncertain on Tuesday, with the Catalan club having to find a financial solution to register their player.
The indebted Blaugrana club had registered the Spanish international, its flagship summer recruit, until December 31 with 80% of the salary of injured defender Andreas Christensen thanks to an exception allowing clubs to replace players absent for a long period.
Due to spending limits set by the Spanish Football League (Liga), Olmo was playing on an interim basis while waiting for Barca to resolve their financial problems. Otherwise, he could become a free player from this Wednesday, January 1, 2025.
The club, which has exhausted legal avenues to extend the registration until June 30, 2025, said on Tuesday that it had requested a new license from the Spanish football federation for Olmo and young striker Pau Victor, who is also facing the same problem.
According to Spanish media, this approach would allow FC Barcelona to save precious time in completing administrative formalities. But La Liga issued a statement shortly after, saying that “Barcelona has not presented any alternative” to comply with budgetary rules, “which allow it to register any player from January 2.”
Olmo’s possible departure would be a big blow for the Blaugrana, third in the championship. Born near Barcelona, the 26-year-old trained at Barça before playing in the Croatian and German championships. He has scored five goals in La Liga this season and was one of the great architects of Spain’s victory at Euro-2024.
