A new transfer window is near and Barcelona have their latest puzzle to solve with one of their star players: Dani Olmo.
As things stand, the 26-year-old Spain attacking midfielder is not eligible to play for Barca from the start of next year. Olmo, who joined from RB Leipzig in the summer for a fee in the region of €60million (£50m; $63m), could even leave on a free transfer.
That was established last summer, when Olmo was registered at the last minute under La Liga’s salary rules. As ever with Barca and Spanish football, it is complex — so how did the club and Olmo end up at this crossroads and how could the situation be resolved?
The Athletic has spoken to club and La Liga sources, who asked to remain anonymous as they did not want to comment publicly on the matter, to find out.
GO DEEPER
‘When he scored his first goal, I cried’ – Dani Olmo’s 10-year odyssey back to Barca
The background
La Liga sets a salary spending limit for each team in the division based on the revenue they generate, along with any debts and losses. Any club overspending their limit are forced to offload salaries and find new income sources before the competition allows them to register new signings without restrictions — meaning they can play in the competition.
Barcelona have been operating above their salary limit for a long time. Several players left on loan or permanently this summer, but it was not enough to register Olmo. The deal to sign him was announced on August 9 and his salary and six-year contract required a significant chunk of Barca’s allowance.
La Liga started on August 17 with Olmo not registered. Barca played their first two games against Valencia and Athletic Club without him.
Olmo was not the only one: Inigo Martinez, Marc Casado and Pau Victor also had to be registered as first-team players for various reasons. All of them eventually were, mainly thanks to injuries to Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen.
Araujo’s injury while playing for Uruguay allowed Barca to free up some salary space (Candice Ward/Getty Images)
If a club lose a player to injury for at least four months, La Liga rules allow them to allocate 80 per cent of that player’s salary in the club’s allowance to register another player. Araujo suffered a hamstring injury with Uruguay at the Copa America that required surgery and kept him out for five months.
Araujo’s salary being freed up meant Barca could register Martinez, Casado and Victor before the start of the season.
Olmo’s lifeboat arrived on August 27, three days before deadline day. Christensen was struggling with an Achilles injury and, after multiple tests and scans, Barca submitted a medical report to La Liga requesting another long-term injury exception, as they did not expect the Danish centre-back to return for around four months.
This was approved by La Liga’s medical panel. But 80 per cent of Christensen’s salary was not enough to cover all of Olmo’s six-year contract. That led to a new rule being created within La Liga’s salary cap regulations to allow him to play.
La Liga approved Olmo’s registration for the first half of the season only, giving Barca a temporary permit to use the player while they kept looking for fresh revenue streams before January.
Olmo’s four-month allowance is set to expire on December 31 and major changes are yet to happen.
Barca announced a new sponsorship deal with Nike, which is expected to be approved by the club’s general assembly next week. Club sources said the deal still would not be enough to register Olmo.
GO DEEPER
Barca’s new Nike deal explained: Is it really worth €1.7billion? And is it bigger than Real Madrid’s?
If Barca do not meet the deadline to fix the situation, Olmo is at risk of not featuring for the club again this season.
What are Olmo’s options?
With two weeks to go until the deadline for Barcelona to register Olmo, he finds himself in a difficult position.
Footballers are given licences to play in Spain when they join La Liga that usually last until the end of their contracts. But Olmo’s exceptional licence only runs until the end of 2024.
Barca would be forced to start the process from scratch if they fail to meet the deadline. That would cause a major problem as, according to La Liga rules, no player can have multiple licences in the same season.
Olmo would be unable to play in La Liga or the Champions League, as UEFA rules do not allow a player to feature if they are not fully registered in the club’s domestic competition. He would not be able to play in the Copa del Rey or the Supercopa de Espana, both of which Barca feature in next month.
Olmo cannot play in the second half of the Champions League season as things stand (Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Last week, newspaper Mundo Deportivo revealed Olmo had a clause in his contract allowing him to leave Barca on a free if he is not registered in January.
Olmo’s camp did not want to comment on the clause when contacted but say they remain calm and confident with the club and are totally convinced the situation will be resolved. The player has no plan other than staying at his boyhood club.
But if nothing changes in the next two weeks, a whole new scenario could open up as it is very unlikely Olmo would want to stay at Barca without playing.
How are Barcelona going to fix this?
Selling players is not an option as this needs to be addressed before the start of the transfer window, leaving Barcelona with few options.
The best solution would be to fix the mess with Barca Studios, the club’s audiovisual arm. President Joan Laporta sold 49 per cent of Barca Studios in summer 2021 as a financial ‘lever’ to help sign Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde and Christensen. They valued those shares at €200million in their budget but never received the full amount — which has created a hole in their accounts.
Club sources say they are working on finding new investors who can make up that shortfall, but a quick fix seems unlikely.
In recent weeks, the club have explored the sale of VIP boxes in 20-year commitments at the refurbished Camp Nou. Reports suggest that could raise €100million-€200m over that period, which would increase their spending potential and function as a new lever.
GO DEEPER
Barcelona exploring 20-year VIP box sales at Camp Nou to register Olmo in January
But La Liga would need to check and approve that type of deal. Barca have not made significant progress and there is not much time left.
It is hard to see where Barca go from here, but the possibility of board members signing a bank guarantee — putting their own personal wealth at risk — should not be dismissed. Laporta and his team used that move last year to register loan signings Joao Cancelo and Joao Felix with a guarantee worth €20million and in 2022 to register Kounde — with a guarantee widely reported to be worth €11m.
“I am sure we will be able to register Dani Olmo,” Barca sporting director Deco told Spanish TV station Movistar before their Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund last week.
“The club is working on that. Internal discussions are taking place and I can’t say much more here in public, but we will fix that.”
Are there any more players impacted?
Victor, the 23-year-old striker who signed from Girona in the summer, is in the same situation. But his salary is significantly lower than Olmo’s, so is not expected to be a big problem.
La Liga sources said the share of Araujo’s salary used for Martinez and Casado’s registrations was enough to cover the whole campaign for both players.
Is this the first time they have been in this situation?
There have been many players in recent years who inserted clauses in their contracts to allow them to leave if Barca failed to register on time — including Ilkay Gundogan, Kounde and Franck Kessie.
But Barca have never found themselves in a position where a player could be removed from their squad due to their financial problems midway through the season.
(Top photo: Maciej Rogowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
