Why Dani Olmo could leave Barcelona for free in January 2025?

The midfielder is yet to be ‘fully’ registered by the club.

The upcoming transfer window presents Barcelona with their most recent conundrum with one of their best players, Dani Olmo.

The 26-year-old offensive midfielder from Spain will be unable to play for Barcelona starting in the new year. Olmo may possibly depart on a free transfer. The player had joined from RB Leipzig in the summer for a reported €60 million (£50 million; $63 million).

Olmo’s last-minute registration under LaLiga’s pay regulations was enough for the first half of the season only. It’s complicated, as always with Barca and Spanish football. But how did the team and Olmo get to this point and how may things are yet to be settled?

Each team in the division has a salary spending cap imposed by LaLiga, which is determined by their revenue as well as any debts and losses. Before the competition permits them to recruit new players without limitations, clubs that exceed their spending cap are compelled to sell players, make room for salaries and find alternative sources of funding.

As things stand, Dani Olmo won't be able to play for Barcelona from the start of next month.What's worse: he could leave for free due to the club's registration issues.@polballus explains #FCB's dilemma with their €60m summer signing.

— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) December 17, 2024

For a long time, Barcelona have been paying more than they should. This summer, a number of players left on loan or permanently, but it was insufficient to sign Olmo. On August 9, the agreement to sign him was made public, and a sizeable portion of Barca’s allocation was needed to cover his salary and six-year contract.

Olmo was not registered when LaLiga began on August 17. Without him, Barca played their opening two matches against Athletic Club and Valencia.

Olmo wasn’t the only one. For a variety of reasons, Inigo Martinez, Marc Casado, and Pau Victor also needed to be included as first-team players. In the end, they were all permitted, primarily because of Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo’s injuries.

According to LaLiga regulations, a club may use 80% of a player’s salary to register a new player if they miss at least four months of play due to injury. During the Copa America, Araujo sustained a hamstring injury while playing for Uruguay that needed surgery and ruled him out for five months. With the defender back, things are once again complicated.

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