Dani Olmo doesn’t know where he will be playing in the second half of the season. Or if he’ll be playing at all. As things stand, Olmo won’t be registered to play in LaLiga in 2025 with Barcelona unable to meet the division’s wage cap. Not for the first time, the Catalan club is facing up to the reality of its own financial mismanagement.
Signed from RB Leipzig in August, Barca were able to register Olmo for the first half of the season due to long-term injuries suffered by a number of first team players. Ronald Araújo, Andreas Christensen and Marc-André ter Stegen’s misfortune essentially got Barcelona off the hook and Olmo could play.
Now, though, Araújo and Christensen are fit again and Barca can no longer use their injuries to register Olmo. It’s a genuine possibility that the Euro 2024 winner could be forced to watch the second half of the season from the sideline, although a number of potential suitors, including several in the Premier League, have been linked with a loan move.
All this highlights just how fragile Barcelona’s position remains. Their progress is far from guaranteed. While the club is undeniably in a better position, on and off the pitch, now than it was even 12 months ago, Barca are walking a tightrope to stay competitive at the top of Spanish and European football. They could fall off at any time.
Olmo has settled quickly into Hansi Flick’s team. Injury has prevented the 26-year-old from playing more than 628 league minutes this season, but Olmo has scored five times in just 11 appearances. He has proved himself as a good fit for one of the most exciting and dynamic attacks in the game right now.
Lamine Yamal is Barcelona’s creator in-chief with Robert Lewandowski the focal point and Pedri the Andrés Iniesta heir who ties everything together. Olmo, however, is the box-crashing auxiliary threat who gives Barca a different dimension. Opponents often have so many Barcelona attackers to mark and track that Olmo frequently finds space inside the box.
At their best, Barcelona are a force of nature, as they showed during a particularly impressive run in October that saw them score eight goals against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid in a single week. Flick’s high-intensity approach has energised a team that had grown stale under Xavi Hernández last season.
Barca, however, have drastically lost momentum in recent weeks, winning just one of their last seven league games. The 2-1 home defeat to Atlético Madrid before the winter break saw the Catalans lose top spot in the table with Flick’s side now third. The season could slip through Barcelona’s fingers if they don’t recover their form soon. Not having Olmo to pick from won’t help matters.
Recent reports claim Barcelona have a series of ideas to raise funds. They hope to generate over €100m through the sale of VIP box seats for the renovated Camp Nou when it reopens later this year. A new kit deal will help. A number of players including Araújo, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Pedri are also reportedly willing to sign new contracts on more favourable terms for the club.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid are lining up a move for Trent Alexander-Arnold after signing Kylian Mbappé in the summer. Atlético Madrid also spent close to €200m on transfers before the 2024/25 season and are reaping the rewards as Julián Alvarez, Conor Gallagher, Robin Le Normand and Alexander Sørloth continue to contribute.
La Masia is the thing Barcelona have that none of their rivals have and so the Catalans have made a point of once again re-establishing the pathway between the most prolific academy in world football and the first team – see Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Gavi, Marc Casadó, Alex Balde, Pau Cubarsí, Fermín López and others who have recently broken through.
And yet it is another big-money transfer that has landed Barcelona in trouble again. Olmo’s return to the club that gave him his footballing education as a youngster cost Barca €55m in the summer and it could cost them a whole lot more if they are forced to unregister him for the second half of the season when Flick could really use the attacker to catch Atleti and Real Madrid.
Not so long ago, Barca appeared to be back. Emphatically so. They were flying in the Champions League and LaLiga, were proceeding with the $1.6 billion renovation of Camp Nou and and looked to have recovered from the constant calamity of the last few years. Now, the landscape is rather different and Olmo could be forced out as a symbol of bungling Barcelona. Lionel Messi knows how he feels.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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