The Barcelona midfielder remains in limbo and his exit is imminent after the Spanish court rejected the player’s registration.
A Spanish court has rejected Barcelona’s request to register Dani Olmo beyond the end of the year, potentially forcing the star to leave the Catalan giants on a free transfer.
The Spanish playmaker, who has scored six goals in 15 appearances for the Bernabéu-based club this season, moved from Bundesliga side RB Leipzig last summer for a reported $62.5 million, but La Liga rules restrict spending for Limiting salaries and transfers made his registration more difficult.
Debt-ridden FC Barcelona registered the 26-year-old until December 31 at 80 percent of injured defender Andreas Christensen’s salary, thanks to an exemption that allows clubs to replace long-term absent players.
After La Liga rejected the club’s request to extend its registration until the end of the season, Barcelona filed the case in court, claiming unfair competition and attempting to register Olmo until June 30, 2025.
A commercial court in Barcelona said in a ruling on Monday that it had rejected the club’s applications because none of the criteria were met.
“The aim of approving the overspending is that a long-term injury does not affect the team’s competitiveness, and not that the long-term injury allows the registration of players who exceed the limit with their salary,” which is what Barcelona tried to achieve. The court decided.
Olmo cannot be registered for the rest of the season “once it is clear that the player’s contract ends on December 31, 2024 and cannot be extended,” the court added.
Spanish media said Olmo’s contract, originally due to run until 2030, contained a clause exempting the 2024 European champions if he could not be registered.
Barcelona may appeal the ruling and Spanish media reported that the club may use alternative means to secure the registration of the Spain international, who has scored 11 goals in 41 games for his country.
These included further legal action, board members committing personal assets to guarantee registration and selling VIP seating packages for the future expanded Camp Nou to generate extraordinary revenue, they said.
La Liga said it had applied the requirements equally to all teams and welcomed that no exception was made which could otherwise “seriously affect the level playing field” of the competition.
Olmo’s possible departure would be a huge blow to the Blaugrana, who have lost their early lead and fallen to third in a tight title race.
Hansi Flick’s side are three points behind leaders Atlético Madrid and two points behind Real Madrid, having played a game more than both rivals.
