January 6 – Barcelona’s precarious financial situation has been brought into sharp focus after their request to register Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor for the rest of the season was denied by the Spanish league and federation.
The summer signings were registered only through the end of 2024 due to LaLiga salary cap provisions and Barcelona failed to meet the league’s financial fair-play rules by the end-of-year deadline.
Both players could now be in limbo until the end of the season with their careers on hold, while there has been recent speculation that the highly coveted Olmo could leave the club.
Olmo, 26, has been an integral part of Hansi Flick’s team since joining from RB Leipzig in a deal worth about £51 million after helping Spain win last summer’s European Championship. Victor, 23, has featured almost entirely as a substitute in Spain’s top flight this season.
A joint statement from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and La Liga confirmed they turned down Barcelona’s request to register both players.
Flick said that he spoke with Olmo and the player reiterated his desire to keep playing for Barcelona.
“Dani wants to play for Barça,” Flick said. “We need him, and also Pau Víctor, they are very good players, we need both of them. We need to wait. This is the only thing we can do right now.”
Barcelona argue that the deadline for registering new players should be at the end of January, when the transfer windows closes, and not the end of December as the domestic league requires. Spanish media report that in a last-ditch attempt, the club plan on filing a complaint to the Spanish government in a bid to extend the players’ registrations.
Barcelona sit third in La Liga, five points behind leaders Real Madrid.
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