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Barcelona have been forced to go without summer signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor for the rest of the season after failing in a series of appeals against La Liga.
In an unusual scenario, complications around the way the players were registered to fit into Barcelona’s wage bill have meant the Spanish league have thrown the rule book at the club and said the two players have to be de-registered.
So what exactly has gone on, and what does it mean for the two players – especially amid reports of Premier League interest in Olmo?
Why have Barcelona had to de-register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor?
La Liga places salary caps on each of its member clubs. The rules are fairly labyrinthine – if you’re absolutely desperate to, you can read the full 200+ page document here – but long and short of it is that each club has a different salary cap depending on their revenues and other financial criteria.
That means that whenever a club tries to register a new player, they have to get permission from La Liga. If the club is under its salary cap even with that new players on the books, there’s no issue.
Barcelona’s problem is that signing Olmo would have put them above their salary cap, which is currently far lower than, say, Real Madrid’s, largely because of the financial difficulties they have had over the past few years and the huge debt they have taken on to finance the renovation of the Camp Nou. You recall that a similar situation forced them to say goodbye to Lionel Messi a few years ago.
Of course, Barcelona were aware of this at the time they signed Olmo and Victor, and so only registered them up until the end of December on a special exemption basis. That exemption was allowed because Barcelona had several long-term injuries in their squad when the pair were signed.
That meant Olmo and Victor’s wages only counted against Barcelona’s their wage cap up until then – but also meant that they would have to be de-registered in January unless Barcelona found extra room in their budget before the window opened.
Why did Barcelona sign Dani Olmo and Pau Victor if they could only play for half the season?
Barca seemed hopeful they would be able to find a way to sidestep the issue and extend their special exemption. La Liga have offered no leeway in their rules, however, leading Barcelona to launch a series of challenges to try and get their own way. All of those attempts have been unsuccessful.
First, the club turned to the courts, who upheld La Liga’s side. As the league put it, Barcelona’s case failed ‘on the grounds that none of the necessary conditions for the adoption of an interim measure have been met’.
Barcelona appealed that decision at a higher court, but that appeal was unsuccessful. They then turned to the RFEF – the Spanish equivalent of the FA – only to be thwarted once again.
That means that Olmo and Victor’s registrations have been cancelled, and they no longer appear on Barcelona’s registered squad list. That de-registration applies to all competitions, including the Champions League.
Reports in the local media report that Barcelona are now planning on petitioning the Spanish government to intervene and help them push through the two players’ registrations, as well as considering their options in the courts again.
Would Barcelona be able to re-register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor if they can raise some extra money?
Well…they’ve tried, on both counts.
Barcelona have agreed to sell VIP seats at the renovated Camp Nou, despite the fact that it has not yet re-opened, raising €100m-€120m. As journalist Guillem Balague writes, that’s ‘significantly lower’ than they would have expected to get for those seats originally, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
The club hoped that this new revenue would give them more wiggle room in their wage cap, but La Liga insist that Barcelona did not file the required paperwork in time. As such, that revenue won’t count until the summer, and Olmo and Victor have had to be de-registered.
As the league and RFEF were at pains to point out in a joint statement, La Liga rules say that a club cannot re-register a player in the same season their registration has previously been cancelled.
By the letter of the law, that means that even if Barcelona are able to get La Liga to accept the revenue from the sale of the VIP seats as valid for this season, they would not be allowed to re-register Olmo or Victor…even though, somewhat absurdly, they would be able to sign brand new players.
So what happens to Dani Olmo and Pau Victor for the rest of the season?
Balague writes that Olmo has a clause in his contract that would allow him to terminate his contract and become a free agent, but that the midfielder is not currently minded to do so.
If all their other avenues are exhausted, Balague claims the club may consider agreeing to mutually terminate both Olmo and Victor’s contracts, with an agreement in place to re-sign them on July 1, when the next registration window opens.
That, again, would allow Olmo and Victor to find new homes for the rest of the season, technically as free agents on short-term permanent contracts, though for all practical intents and purposes (even if not contractual ones) they would effectively be in the same boat as loanees.
Several Premier League clubs are said to be interested in Olmo if he does become available, with Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal all touted as potential destinations
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