Barcelona Future of Dani Olmo in Limbo Due to Complications in La Liga Registration

Barcelona announced on Tuesday that they have formally applied for a new license for midfielder Olmo and forward Pau Victor with the Spanish football federation. Both players are currently facing registration issues.

Spanish media reported that the move would buy Barcelona precious time to complete the administrative formalities.

"The club wishes to deny that it has asked for or received any extension from any other organization for the registration being requested," it added in a statement.

La Liga released a statement shortly afterwards saying that as of Tuesday "Barcelona has presented no alternative" complying with the league's budget rules "that allows it to register any player from January 2".

Barcelona had documents submitted to La Liga showing it would generate 100 million euros ($103 million) to finance Olmo's registration by selling VIP seats at its future expanded Camp Nou stadium, but the paperwork was advancing slowly, Spanish media said.

A Barcelona court had rejected a request to extend the registration on Monday, after a commercial court in the Catalan capital made the same decision last week.

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The heavily indebted club registered Olmo with 80 percent of injured defender Andreas Christensen's pay thanks to an exception in La Liga's budget rules allowing clubs to replace long-term absentees.

The commercial court argued that overspending was authorized to prevent a long-term injury undermining a team's competitiveness but not to register players whose wages exceeded the salary limit.

Olmo's contract, initially set to run until 2030, includes a clause that would release him if he could not be registered, according to Spanish media.

The Spain playmaker's potential departure due to an administrative imbroglio would be a damaging and embarrassing blow to the third-placed Blaugrana's title bid.

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The 26-year-old has notched five goals in La Liga this season and starred as Spain clinched Euro 2024 glory in Germany.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)