Barcelona’s Dani Olmo nightmare explained: Why fans are calling for club president’s resignation

Barcelona fans are furious after the club were banned from registering Dani Olmo by La Liga chiefs having failed to stay within their salary limits.

The Spaniard’s move from RB Leipzig to Camp Nou was widely celebrated by fans as the Euro 2024 star arrived for a fee of around £85million.

The 26-year-old has gone on to become an important member of Hansi Flick’s squad in the Catalan city after scoring six goals in 15 games.

But Olmo now faces being sidelined for the rest of the season. La Liga have ruled that Barcelona could not register the midfielder for the second half of the campaign because the club had exceeded their spending limit. Fellow new signing Pau Victor has also been affected.

But how did Barcelona get themselves into this situation, how did it begin and is there a solution to register Olmo for the rest of the season?

How did Barcelona register Olmo for the first half of the season?

Barcelona, like all La Liga clubs, must adhere to the division’s annual spending limit on player salaries – yet club president Joan Laporta and director Deco believed it was still worth spending more than £80m on Olmo.

It could be argued that Barcelona were fortunate to register Olmo. They were only able to do so after defender Andreas Christensen suffered a long-term injury, giving the club more leeway in their salary budget.

However, this loop hole was only ever meant to be a temporary fix and now that Christensen has recovered from his injury, he has re-emerged on La Liga’s website, while Olmo’s name was removed.

Barcelona reportedly agreed to sell VIP seats at their renovated Camp Nou stadium to a Qatari firm for around £83m just before the new year, which they hoped would be enough to satisfy La Liga’s regulations. The club confirmed it had re-applied for Olmo and Victor to be registered again.

But the club could still be left frustrated in their efforts after La Liga released a statement that claimed Barcelona “have not provided any alternative that, in compliance with La Liga’s economic control regulations, would allow them to register any player as of 2 January”.

How have fans reacted?

A group of Barcelona fans have been left fuming by the failures around Olmo’s registration and have officially demanded the resignation of Laporta.

Fan group Som un Clam said in a damning statement: “The situation created is inadmissible, and the damage caused to the reputation of the entity is irreparable. The bad image is aggravated by the continuous lies and the deception of members with false promises that are never fulfilled and that end up harming the club.

“We ask for the resignation of the president and the board of directors, while we call on Barca fans to mobilise, reverse this situation and make their voices heard.”

What has been the response from Barcelona and La Liga?

Barcelona director Deco appeared cool and collected when quizzed about Olmo. “Yes of course,” he said when asked if the club would find a way to get him registered.

“We’re working on it and everyone is calm. These are internal issues at the club. But don’t worry, we’ll fix it. The player is calm, don’t worry.”

Even La Liga chief Javier Tebas said he was optimistic that Barcelona could come to a resolution because he was a big fan of “extraordinary” Olmo.

“I hope Barca manage it,” Tebas said this week. “I am positive they will. They are working on it and I am optimistic. At the end of the day, they always manage it, so let’s see. [Olmo] is a player I like a lot. He’s an extraordinary player.”

La Liga confirm refusal for Olmo and Victor registration

On Saturday afternoon, La Liga and RFEF released a joint-state confirming that Barcelona’s request for registration licences for Olmo and Victor have been denied. This is despite the club being granted a higher salary limit.

The statement read: “The Monitoring Committee of the LALIGA-RFEF Coordination Agreement has met to address the request for a prior visa and processing of the federation licenses of the players Mr. Daniel Olmo Carvajal and Mr. Pau Víctor Delgado, issued by FC Barcelona.

“Following compliance by FCB with the requirements regarding LALIGA’s financial control on 3 January 2025 and the club completing the relevant documentation, LALIGA’s Budget Validation Body has decided to extend the FCB Sports Squad Cost Limit from the aforementioned date.

“In this regard, having been requested the licenses for the referred players by FC Barcelona, ​​after analysis of the applicable federation regulations, the Monitoring Committee agrees not to grant the prior visa, nor the definitive license requested by FC Barcelona for the players Mr. Daniel Olmo Carvajal and Mr. Pau Víctor Delgado in accordance with the literal interpretation of articles 130.2 and 141.5 of the General Regulations of the RFEF that prevent a player whose license is cancelled, from being able to obtain a license in the same club team to which he was already linked, during the course of the same season.”

According to reports, Barcelona now intend to take the case to court.

Could Olmo leave if he cannot be registered?

It has been reported that Manchester United and Manchester City are now monitoring Olmo’s situation, knowing Barcelona would likely have no choice but to either sell or loan the player if they cannot register him.

There is also believed to be a clause in his contract that states he could terminate his deal if he wasn’t registered by Barcelona by 1st January, but the player’s agent has sought to quell fears he could leave.

Andy Bara told Give Me Sport: “Other options or clubs? Barcelona is the first and last option. Dani, his father, family, me… we’re not thinking about other options. We are not negotiating with any club. Dani is Barca player and he wants to be a Barca player.”