A new year has begun with a once-proud club plagued by the same old problems, which could completely derail a season that started so well
When Josep Maria Bartomeu stepped down as Barcelona president in October 2020, he did so in disgrace. He had left the Blaugrana on the verge of bankruptcy after one disastrous decision after another. Less than a year later, though, Bartomeu was defending his tenure in an open letter published by EFE and also insisting that his successor, Joan Laporta, had exacerbated Barca's problems.
Laporta dismissed his fellow Catalan's claims as "lies", "an effort to justify unjustifiable management" and "an exercise in desperation". Four years on, though, Laporta is facing similar allegations of financial mismanagement.
Indeed, former presidential candidate Victor Font claimed last summer that Barca are worse off now than they were under Bartomeu, and while that may be an exaggeration, there's no denying that the club remains in an utterly perilous position – as underlined by the utterly humiliating Dani Olmo registration farce…
(C)Getty Images€103m gamble
Olmo is a talented footballer. He proved that at Euro 2024, where he came into a strong Spain side because of an unfortunate injury to Pedri – and made Luis de la Fuente's team even better. Nonetheless, Barca's decision to commit €103 million (£85m/$106m) to signing him from RB Leipzig, in wages and transfer fee, raised an awful lot of eyebrows in Spain.
From a purely sporting perspective, Olmo wasn't a player that Barca particularly needed. They had other, more problematic positions to fill. However, it was the financial aspect of the transfer that made no sense at all because, at the time, Barca were still in excess of their Liga-imposed annual spending limit.
Laporta and sporting director Deco insisted that Barca could afford such an outlay and still adhere to the Spanish top-flight's strict financial regulations. They were convinced that they could raise enough money via player departures before the close of the summer transfer window to make room for Olmo – but they were wrong.
The only reason that the Catalans were able to register the attacking midfielder – two games into the new season – was a long-term injury to defender Andreas Christensen that freed up sufficient space for Olmo within Barca's salary cap.
It was only ever a temporary emergency measure, though, and while the fit-again Christensen reappeared on La Liga's website on January 1 as a registered Barcelona player, Olmo's profile was removed.
AdvertisementGetty Images'Don't worry, we'll fix it'
Barca were essentially given an additional four months to balance their books, and Laporta and Deco repeatedly declared during the first half of the season that Olmo – and fellow summer signing Pau Victor – would be registered before the December 31, 2024 deadline without any problems.
When Deco was once again asked on December 12 how Barca intended to register Olmo, the visibly irritated Portuguese told , "These are internal issues at the club. But don't worry, we'll fix it. The player is calm, don't worry."
La Liga president Javier Tebas also issued a positive update at the time. "I hope Barca manage it. I am positive they will. They are working on it and I am optimistic," Tebas told reporters. "At the end of the day, they always manage it."
On this particular occasion, though, the outcome is very much still hanging in the balance.
AFPExploiting the rules?
Laporta claimed in September that Barcelona could have achieved La Liga's desired 1:1 ratio between a club's net debt and revenue had they signed a new deal with Nike – but explained that he wasn't happy with the terms of the proposed deal.
However, even after belatedly agreeing an extension with the kit manufacturer in November, Barca still weren't in a position to register Olmo and thus tried to resolve the matter in court.
The club attempted to procure a precautionary registration measure for both Olmo and Victor in the final week of December, but their case was dismissed, and so too was the subsequent appeal on December 27.
"La Liga has today learned of the ruling… rejecting the request for the provisional registration of Dani Olmo until June 30, 2025, on the grounds that none of the necessary conditions for the adoption of an interim measure have been met," read a statement issued by the governing body.
"The ruling also stresses that 'the purpose of allowing additional spending is so that a long-term injury does not weaken the team's competitiveness, not to use a long-term injury to allow the registration of players whose salaries exceed the limit, which is what FC Barcelona is attempting'."
Getty Images SportOne final effort
According to widespread reports, Barcelona agreed to sell VIP seats at the new Camp Nou for the next 20 years to a Qatari fund for €100m (£83m/$103m) in the final days of 2024 in a desperate, last-ditch attempt to meet La Liga's rules and, on December, 31, the club confirmed that it had "applied for a new license for the players Daniel Olmo and Pau Víctor to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF)".
However, no players can be registered without prior approval from La Liga, who issued their own statement just a few hours before the deadline claiming that Barca "have not provided any alternative that, in compliance with La Liga’s economic control regulations, would allow them to register any player as of January 2".
