Barcelona’s Financial Struggles: The Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor Saga Unfolds

Barcelona’s Financial Struggles: A New Chapter in the Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor Saga

BARCELONA — The atmosphere at Barcelona’s offices was electric on Friday as the first payment of €28 million from the €100m sale of VIP boxes at Spotify Camp Nou was received. This was a significant moment for the club, as they had been eagerly awaiting this cash injection to help register their star signing Dani Olmo and young forward Pau Víctor with LaLiga for the second half of the season. However, the stadium is still under renovation, and the money arrived too late to meet the league’s financial fair play regulations (FFP).

According to a source, the deal should have allowed Barça to operate within LaLiga’s FFP rules, but the timing was off. This delay has led to a precarious situation where Olmo, a €60m signing from RB Leipzig, and Víctor, a €3m arrival from Girona, might not be able to play for Barça again this season. As of now, LaLiga has unregistered the duo after Barça missed the Dec. 31 deadline to prove compliance with FFP. The league and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) released a statement on Jan. 4 rejecting a follow-up request to re-register the players.

While Barça president Joan Laporta and his advisors celebrated the financial boost, other sources expressed surprise at the club’s optimism, given the missed deadline. Barça has been grappling with financial issues for over three years, ever since Laporta inherited a club burdened with €1.2 billion of debt from his predecessor, Josep Maria Bartomeu. Since then, the club has employed various strategies, including wage cuts, asset sales, and court cases, to register signings while adhering to league regulations.

Why Olmo and Víctor’s Registrations Have Failed

Olmo and Víctor joined Barça last summer, but the club was unable to register them due to exceeding their league-imposed annual spending limit. LaLiga assigns each club a personal limit, determined by revenue minus non-sporting outgoings and debt repayments. Barça’s limit for the current season is €426m, but they exceeded this amount by Dec. 31.

There are ways to work around this limit. Clubs in breach can spend a percentage of any savings from transfers, wage reductions, or new revenue streams on new additions. Additionally, teams can temporarily use up to 80% of the salary owed to an injured player on an alternative. This was how Olmo and Víctor were registered at the end of August, thanks to an injury to defender Andreas Christensen. However, this was only a temporary solution until Dec. 31, 2024.

Laporta had expressed confidence that the club would soon operate within LaLiga’s limit, citing a new €100m-plus deal with kit supplier Nike as a major reason for optimism. However, sources revealed that the agreement with Nike did not raise enough funds to extend the registrations. Despite this, club sources remained optimistic, but the situation dragged on, and Barça exhausted all options last month. They lost two court hearings against LaLiga’s FFP rules, focusing on workers’ rights and their right to register players using 80% of injured goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen‘s salary. Both judges ruled against Barça.

The club’s final option was the sale of VIP boxes at Camp Nou, a deal worth around €100m. However, finalizing the terms and providing proof of the money before the Dec. 31 deadline proved difficult. As the deadline approached, LaLiga released a statement saying Barça had not provided sufficient guarantees to fulfill the regulations. Consequently, Olmo and Víctor were unregistered.

Barça’s Previous Financial Maneuvers

Barça’s financial struggles are not new. Messi’s departure in 2021 was a result of the club’s inability to register his new contract. That summer, wage cuts agreed with Gerard Piqué, Jordi Alba, and Sergio Busquets enabled the registration of Memphis Depay and Eric García. More salary reductions were required in January when Barça signed Ferran Torres from Manchester City for €55m. To register him, defender Samuel Umtiti signed a new contract, spreading the money owed to him over a longer period.

In 2022, Barça sold 25% of their LaLiga television rights to Sixth Street for 25 years, raising €527.5m. They also sold 49% of Barça Studios to Socios.com and Orpheus Media for €200m, allowing them to register Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha. However, it was not enough to register Jules Koundé, who was eventually registered after directors provided a bank guarantee.

In 2023, Barça sought a court order to register academy star Gavi with the first team. They also resold shares in Barça Studios to Libero for €120m, which allowed them to register Ilkay Gündogan, Iñigo Martínez, and Oriol Romeu. However, the money from Libero never arrived, leading to LaLiga’s demand for proof of funds from the VIP box sale.

Another bank guarantee was required to register loan signings João Félix and João Cancelo. Long-term injuries to Gavi, Ronald Araújo, Christensen, and Ter Stegen have been used to push through temporary registrations. This illustrates how close Barça has been to failing to register key players for years.

What Next for Olmo and Víctor?

Barça remains determined to resolve the situation. A source told ESPN that Laporta will not speak publicly until Olmo and Víctor are registered. If they aren’t, “that scenario is not being considered,” the source added.

With the extra €28m now in the bank, Barça argued that certain hold-ups prevented them from meeting the Dec. 31 deadline and applied for a new license for both players with the RFEF. However, RFEF rules state that players cannot be re-registered with the same team for the second time in the same season. A source at the RFEF told ESPN they “cannot process any license without prior approval from LaLiga.” Barça plans to take their case to court.

Olmo and Víctor face being sidelined for at least six months. One option is for them to stay at Barça and train but be unavailable for selection. Olmo has a clause allowing him to leave for free if unregistered, but his agent, Andy Bara, insists he plans to stay at Barça. However, a short-term move would be complicated due to the lack of a license with the RFEF. A possible solution would involve rescinding Olmo’s contract, allowing him to join another club for six months before returning to Barça in the summer.

Víctor’s case is similar, with interest from Real Betis, Espanyol, and several Segunda Division clubs. If both registrations are not processed, Barça could find themselves unable to re-register Olmo or Víctor but still able to sign players from elsewhere.