Dani Olmo was FC Barcelona best (and only) signing last summer. The attacking midfielder returned to Barcelona, where he played in his youth, after four years at RB Leipzig and hot from the UEFA Euro 2024, where he was the top scorer for Spain's victory.
Barcelona payed 47 million euros for the 26-year-old player, who has become one of the key pieces of the team, as shown yesterday against Borussia Dortmund. However, due the financial difficulties of the club, FC Barcelona was not legally allowed to register the player without violating finantial "fair play".
Thus, Dani Olmo didn't play for the first two Liga matches in August, until Danish defender Andreas Christensen got injured from tendinopathy, meaning he wouldn't be able to play until 2025. FC Barcelona then made a surprising -but legal- trick: Christensen was given a long term leave, saving the club up to 80% of his salary, lowering the club's salary cup thus making room for Dani Olmo.
Dani Olmo could sign for free in January if FC Barcelona doesn't register him
However, while Olmo's contract lasts until 2030, his registration at the club only lasts until December 31, 2024. And, as Mundo Deportivo reports, a clause in his contract says that, if the club doesn't register, he could leave Barcelona as a free agent, signing for free with any other club.
And the problem is, while Olmo's desire is to play in FC Barcelona, the club currently doesn't have a high enough salary cap to legally pay his salaries.
What is the salary cap and how much can Barcelona spend
The salary cap is proportional to income and expenses of the club, a way to ensure market and competition regulations. As reported by El País, FC Barcelona's cap grew from 204 million euros in February 2024, to 426,4 million euros in September 2024, after selling several players like Gündogan, Oriol Romeu or Marc Guiu.
Compared to other clubs, Real Madrd had a salary cap of 754,9 million euros, the highest ever in LaLiga. Atlético de Madrid had 310,7 million euros. The lowest one was Sevilla: 2.4 million euros, after missing on 70 million euros from being kicked out of Champions League the previous year.
That is the reason why Barcelona couldn't extend Leo Messi's contract in 2021. Manchester City did break financial fair play for nine years, between 2009 and 2018, and is facing charges that could lead to Premier League relegation.
FC Barcelona hopes that the situation will be solved soon
Right now, Barcelona has a few weeks to find more income sources or reduce expenses in order to improve its salary cap to register Dani Olmo for the remaining of the season, and hoping that in the summer they can improve their finances to register him for the remaining five seasons of his contract.
A sponsor agreement between Olmo and Nike was expected to be the solution, but it wasn't enough. The club could get more money by selling new vip boxes in the refurbished Camp Nou. If that's still not enough, FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta may pay a guarantee, as he did last year with the signing of João Félix y a João Cancelo.