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The Barcelona midfielder has been left in limbo with a departure after a Spanish court rejected the player's registration.
A Spanish court has rejected Barcelona's request to sign Dani Olmo after the end of the year, potentially pushing the star closer to leaving the Catalan giants on a free.
The Spanish playmaker, who has six goals in 15 appearances for the Bernabeu-based club this season, signed from Bundesliga club RB Leipzig last summer for a reported $62.5 million, but La Liga rules limiting wage and transfer spending have complicated the signing his.
Debt-ridden Barcelona signed the 26-year-old until December 31 at 80 percent of injured defender Andreas Christensen's salary, thanks to an exception that allows clubs to replace long-term absentees.
After La Liga rejected the club's request to extend his registration until the end of the season, Barcelona took the case to court alleging unfair competition and wanted to register Olmo until 30 June 2025.
A commercial court in Barcelona said in a ruling on Monday that it rejected the club's claims because none of the criteria were met.
“The purpose of allowing the overspend is so that a long-term injury does not undermine the team's competitiveness, not so that the long-term injury allows the registration of players who exceed the salary cap,” which Barcelona tried to do, the court ruled.
Olmo cannot be registered until the end of the season “after it is understood that the player's contract expires on December 31, 2024. and cannot be extended,” the court added.
Spanish media said Olmo's contract, which originally ran until 2030, included a clause that would release the Euro 2024 champion if he could not be signed.
Barcelona may appeal the decision and Spanish media have reported that the club may resort to alternative means to secure the registration of the Spain international, who has scored 11 goals in 41 appearances for his country.
These include further legal action, board members providing personal assets to secure registration and selling VIP seat packages for the expanded future Camp Nou to generate windfall revenue, they said.
La Liga said it applied the requirements equally to all teams and welcomed that no exception had been made which could otherwise “seriously alter the level playing field” of the competition.
Olmo's potential departure would be a huge blow for the Blaugranas, who have let their early lead slip to third in a tense title battle.
Hansi Flick's side are three points behind leaders Atletico Madrid and two behind Real Madrid, having played a game more than their two rivals.
