The never-ending saga between Barcelona and Dani Olmo has taken another dramatic turn. After weeks of uncertainty, the courts finally rejected the appeal from the Catalan club to ensure the registration of the Spanish midfielder for the second half of the LaLiga season. This leaves Barça cornered, with limited time to fix their finances or risk losing a €55 million signing without any compensation.
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The root of the problem
It all started this August when Dani Olmo left RB Leipzig to sign for Barcelona in a deal that cost the Catalans €55 m. The star signing of the midfielder found immediately that the strict financial fair play rules of LaLiga bit hard, with capped spending on wages and transfers by the regulations firmly standing against his immediate registration.
A temporary loophole came through Andreas Christensen's injury. Thanks to a rule that allows clubs to remove up to 80% of an injured player's salary from their financial calculations, Olmo was able to play during the first half of the season. However, this exception only lasts until the end of 2024, leaving his situation unresolved for the remainder of the campaign.
Options to save Dani Olmo
The options are limited for Barcelona, but they are not impossible. Barcelona has two cards to play in order to resolve Dani Olmo's situation. First is the securing of new sponsors. Recently, Barça signed a billion-euro deal with Nike, but the payments are spread over 14 years. The club needs partnerships that offer up-front payment to deal with the immediate problem. One avenue could be the premium suites at the renovated Camp Nou that just might provide a cash windfall. A second option is to present financial guarantees through backers, a less orthodox approach but one which has been tried by clubs in similar situations and may provide a temporary solution while Barcelona works on getting its books in order. The Deadline Pressure and the
Contract clause
Time is, however, Barça's biggest enemy. If the club doesn't find a solution by December 31, Dani Olmo can unilaterally break his contract and reach the market in January. A real financial and sports cataclysm for the Catalans.
Olmo, who already has 15 matches and six goals, with one assist for Barça, has already proved to be an important part of Hansi Flick's squad. His contract also includes a €500 million release clause. He is the last player they would want to lose without any form of compensation to a club that is still trying to get back on its economic footing.
Why is Barcelona facing so many challenges?
The current struggles at Barcelona have been an accumulation of many years of dubious financial administration, heavy investments, and a very careful control by LaLiga in respect to the club finances. Modern soccer asks for a creative but responsible economic model. Though teams like Real Madrid take balance to their income and expenses, Barcelona has been in a fight to adapt themselves to this new reality.
A possible departure of
Should Dani Olmo leave the club in January, it will be a consequence in more ways than one. On the field, Barça will lose one of their most promising signings of the season.
The financial loss would be even bigger. The club invested heavily to bring Olmo in, and letting him leave without any return would further damage Barça's credibility in the transfer market. Besides, losing such a player could demoralize the rest of the squad and shake the fans' confidence.
Now the ball is in Barça's court. The question is: will they manage to turn this game around in time?