Barcelona are unable to sign £60 million new signing Dani Olmo as the club’s financial situation persists.
The Spanish record champions recently brought the winner of the 2024 European Championship to Camp Nou from RB Leipzig on a six-year contract, but it is still unclear when exactly he will make his competitive debut.
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According to Spanish news channel Cadena SER, the registrations of Olmo and other Barca players are at risk if the club does not pay the 100 million euros owed by German company Libero for taking over 25 percent of Barca Studios.
Although the club has reached an agreement with catering and hotel partner Aramark to cover €40 million of these costs for the month of October, the remaining €60 million for June still needs to be paid.
As things stand, Barcelona cannot currently register Olmo because doing so would violate LaLiga’s Financial Fair Play rules.
In order for the new signing to have a chance of playing in Saturday’s league opening match against Valencia, the Catalan team will have to sell some of its players to pay off the remaining debts.
However, it remains unclear which members of the current squad would be able to raise the necessary funds.
Midfielder Frenkie de Jong has been frequently linked with a possible move away from the club, but he is said to be happy with the club and unwilling to leave.
Other potential candidates for sale would be defender Ronald Araujo and former Leeds star Raphinha, although the former’s current four-month injury layoff due to a thigh injury could make the deal difficult to complete.
With Barca reportedly still hoping to sign Olmo’s national team colleague and fellow Euro 2024 standout Nico Williams, the Blaugrana now face the mammoth task of getting one of the two to play for the 2024/25 season.
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The battle over Olmo’s registration is just the latest saga in the club’s well-documented financial difficulties in recent years.
Previous signings Memphis Depay, Sergio Aguero and Ferran Torres all had to wait until they were registered in 2021 and 2022 respectively before contracts were agreed.
Only a few days left until the start of the season. Sporting director Deco and president Joan Laporta are under enormous pressure to ensure that new coach Hansi Flick has the full squad available for kick-off.