Why Barcelona are 'optimistic' about keeping Dani Olmo after registration blow | OneFootball

Barcelona remain defiantly "optimistic" about their chances of securing Dani Olmo's registration despite missing La Liga's deadline on 31 December 2024, according to a report in Spain.

Olmo was left out of Barcelona's squad for the first two weeks of the season after making his (€60m) £50m move from RB Leipzig to Catalonia as there was no room within La Liga's strict budget to include his salary. A serious injury to Andreas Christensen allowed Barcelona to hand Olmo a six-month registration, but the deadline for its renewal expired at the end of 2024.

The club had two attempts to extend the deadline rebuffed by the city's courts and Olmo was officially removed from La Liga's records for the season on 1 January. According to article 130.2 of the RFEF General Regulations: "A player can only be registered with one team of the club during the same season." As Olmo's registration has expired, he theoretically shouldn't be allowed to be re-registered with Barcelona until the summer.

However, the club are adamant that Olmo - and young striker Pau Victor, who finds himself in the same unfortunate position - will be allowed to play in La Liga for the club again this season. According to Spanish publication SPORT, the resolution of this situation has been described as an "almost certainty".

Dani Olmo posing with Barcelona fans / MANAURE QUINTERO/GettyImages

Club president Joan Laporta was thought to have raised in the region of €120m by selling the future rights to Camp Nou's VIP seating for the next 20 years in a deal with unnamed Qatari investors, thereby securing the economic injection needed to not only register Olmo and Victor, but achieve the 1:1 rule, which allows a club to spend every euro they earn.

La Liga were reportedly kept abreast of each development to avoid anymore upsets, such as when the club's Nike deal was deemed to be of insufficient value, but the Spanish top flight released a statement on New Year's Eve which read: "FC Barcelona has not presented an alternative that, in compliance with LALIGA's economic control regulations, would allow it to register any player from next January 2."

The funds from Laporta's seating agreement had not been guaranteed by the end of 2024. Just two days later, reports claimed that the money has been "confirmed". This development, coupled with the belief that Barcelona can justify Olmo's situation as an "exceptional case", has underpinned the club's confidence.

Olmo has remained publicly calm - as has his manager Hansi Flick. However, Barcelona are eager to finalise this sordid affair before Flick's pre-match press conference at 12pm GMT (4am PT, 7am ET) on Friday 3 January.