Barça’s plans are not fulfilled, and this time, the courts do not agree with the culé club. In extremis, four days before the final deadline and after Christmas and Sant Esteve – the 26th was a holiday in Catalonia -, Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor will not continue, for the moment, registered as FC Barcelona players from January 1. The Commercial Court number 10 of Barcelona rejects the lawsuit filed by the Barça club against LaLiga and does not grant it the precautionary measure, contrary to what happened with Gavi almost two years ago with the same judge. Barça requested precautionary measures alleging the right to work of both players with a signed and valid contract despite not complying with the salary limit. Both Pau Víctor and Dani Olmo remain registered only until December 31, so the club will have to explore other avenues to consider their continuity. Barcelona thus finds itself with a big problem: Dani Olmo could be free as of January 1, according to a clause in his contract if he cannot be registered.
The problem had been pending since the summer, and was only solved in the short term. Olmo landed back in Barcelona on August 9, signed with the club until 2030 in exchange for 47 million euros, as recognized by president Joan Laporta, but he could not play the first two games as he could not be registered. He was able to participate in the third day taking advantage of the long-term injury of Andreas Christensen, who damaged his Achilles tendon. A patch, however, temporary. “Before December we have to try to get LaLiga to understand that we have enough income to be in the 1:1 rule. […] We do not have to suffer because of the registrations of Pau Víctor and Dani Olmo,” Laporta said in mid-October in an interview with the club’s official channel. It was expected that with the new contract with Nike – ratified last Saturday at the extraordinary general assembly – the 1:1 norm of fair play would be reached, or that the salary gap left by Marc-André ter Stegen after his long injury would serve to register them. But LaLiga rejected it: fair play had not yet been regularized despite the renewal bonus (prorated) with Nike, and they considered that Barcelona had already used the German goalkeeper’s record when signing Wojciech Szczesny, although the Polish goalkeeper earns a lot less than Ter Stegen.
Barcelona, after LaLiga’s refusal and taking advantage of its players’ right to work, went to ordinary justice. And the shot went wrong, unlike in the past with Gavi. The young culé player continues competing in LaLiga thanks to a precautionary measure ruled by the same judge who is handling the case of Olmo and Pau Víctor. But this time, and in contrast to what happened in the Gavi case, the Commercial Court 10 of Barcelona did summon LaLiga’s lawyers to argue its position on December 23. This, together with the fact that other clubs put pressure on the body chaired by Javier Tebas, forced Joan Laporta’s board of directors to consider other avenues in the face of a hypothetical refusal from the court, which finally occurred. The first, close the investment in the VIP boxes of the future Spotify Camp Nou. The second is to present a personal endorsement to be able to register both players, something that has already been done in the past at Can Barça. The matter, in any case, will continue on the 30th, since Barça, at the same time that it filed a lawsuit before the commercial court, also did so before a first instance court, whose ruling is expected to be made public on Monday.
If none of these alternative routes become effective, Barcelona will run into a big problem: Olmo presents a clause in his contract that allows him to leave free as of January 1 if he is not registered. A hard blow for the culé club, which is already working against the clock to solve the issue.
