Barcelona may have found a temporary solution to their embarrassing registration issue with Dani Olmo: AC Milan are reportedly ready to sign the attacker loan.
Barcelona have so far failed in their attempts to sign Olmo and the lesser-known Pau Victor for the second half of the La Liga season. The Catalans did not have the financial flexibility to include the players in their strict salary budget at the start of the season, but instead used a temporary gap resulting from Andreas Christensen’s injury-related absence to register the pair until December 31, 2024.
The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) does not allow a player to re-register for the same club in a single season, which Barcelona must do with Olmo after his registration expires. The club has already tried to force an exception at the local court and will now have to appeal to Spain’s Supreme Sports Council and seek at least temporary registration before a final decision is made.
Currently neither Olmo nor Victor can play for Barcelona again this season.
The problem with trying to force registration through the courts is that an outcome can take longer than just the next few weeks. So if Barcelona were ultimately unsuccessful in their latest legal challenge, both players would have to sit out for the rest of the season.
While the January transfer window is open, there is an opportunity for them to finish the season elsewhere. As for Olmo in particular, it was widely reported that he had the right to terminate his contract – with full salary paid – and look for another club as a free agent.
But the young La Masia player seems to have made it clear that he has no intention of taking that step. This means that the risk of losing it permanently is minimal at best. Still, it would be a frustrating consequence of such loyalty if he didn’t play through no fault of his own.
Corriere della Sera has reported on the interest of AC Milan, who would apparently like to take Olmo on a short-term loan until the summer. By then, Barcelona should be able to sign the midfielder for the entire 2025/26 season following his return to La Liga’s 1-1 spending rules last week. It seems like a win-win situation that would even be possible under otherwise really dire circumstances.
Milan have struggled to keep pace with Serie A’s top six so far in the 2024/25 season and are in danger of missing out on European football for the first time since 2019/20 unless they can bolster an attack capable of winning in the league scored an average of just 1.5 goals per game. He scored 19 times less often than his rival Inter.
MARCA reports that no formal offer has been received from Olmo, who reportedly would reject any offer because he still has faith in President Joan Laporta and the hierarchy to sort things out.