Could FC Barcelona be forced to let one of its best players go in the middle of the season, without receiving a single euro in compensation? Barely five months after acquiring him for 55 million euros, the Catalan club increasingly fears the departure of Dani Olmo. He has been removed from the list of players allowed to participate in La Liga and is now free to sign with the team of his choice. On Saturday January 4, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and La Liga rejected the requalification of the player that Barcelona had requested.
This complex situation has seen the 26-year-old midfielder bear the brunt of the financial difficulties that FC Barcelona has been facing for several seasons. If Dani Olmo were to leave—although his agent has said he wants to continue his adventure in Catalonia—Joan Laporta, the club’s president, would find himself the center of attention. Laporta has made the financial rehabilitation of the Catalan club a key project of his tenure, which began in March 2021. However, the management of these finances has led to the unprecedented tumult that the club is currently experiencing.
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LaLiga removes Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor from Barcelona squad
In August 2024, management gave the green light to the signing of Dani Olmo, recent winner of Euro 2024 with Spain, even if Barça had no certainty of being able to register him for the competitions: the weight of his salary would exceed the ceiling authorized for the club’s payroll. It was only after missing the first two matches of the season that the former Leipzig player was able to participate in La Liga matches, thanks to the injury of his teammate Andreas Christensen.
Barcelona took advantage of the Danish defender’s prolonged absence and a provision in La Liga regulations to record Dani Olmo digitally and, above all, in its financial accounts. However, as of December 31, Christensen was back on the list of registered players, leaving Barca unable to justify new revenue to increase their salary cap. As a result, Dani Olmo was sidelined.
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This Saturday, FC Barcelona suffered another setback in this matter. The RFEF and La Liga refused the requalification of both Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, another player caught in this situation, for the second half of the season. The Catalan club has announced its intention to appeal to the Spanish Sports Council in the coming days, citing a recently signed contract worth more than 100 million euros with a Qatari company for the operation of VIP places during at less than fifteen years old.
-In recent years, Barcelona have engaged in numerous similar deals in an effort to rectify a dire situation revealed in 2020 when the five-time Champions League winners had debts estimated at almost 1.5 billion euros. A few months after the start of his second term as president of FC Barcelona in August 2021, Joan Laporta described the club’s financial situation as “dramatic”.
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Barcelona in difficulty regarding Dani Olmo: the Spanish Federation and LaLiga reject the player’s request for reinstatement
Having sold 49% of his audiovisual production company (for 200 million euros), 10% of his TV rights for the next twenty-five years (for 500 million euros), and secured a golden sponsorship deal with Spotify (worth 280 million euros over three years), Barça also recently concluded a new contract with Nike worth 1.7 billion euros until 2038.
These influxes of fresh capital and the smoothing of their payroll over several seasons have allowed Barça to aim for stability. “The club has increased its income and reduced its expenses, and it has done a good job,” admitted Javier Tebas, the president of La Liga, in September 2024. However, the financial situation of the Blaugranas remains precarious, as evidenced by the Dani Olmo saga and the figures revealed by Joan Laporta on RAC 1 radio in February 2024, which still indicated debts of 652 million euros.
Now FC Barcelona must rely on the Spanish courts to hope to register Dani Olmo for the second half of the season. The 26-year-old midfielder’s strong performances during his first five months at the club (6 goals, 1 assist) have increased interest from Europe’s elite clubs, who would be delighted to have the opportunity to sign a player currently valued at €60 million according to Transfermarkt with no transfer fees.
This situation is likely to frustrate Hansi Flick, Barcelona’s German coach, who addressed Dani Olmo’s future at a press conference on Friday: “Honestly, I am not happy with this situation, and the players are not. more, but that’s how it is. We are professionals (…) We have confidence. Powerless in this matter, the German coach was unable to retain his player for his team’s trip to Barbastro for the Copa del Rey on Saturday.
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