Barcelona are relaxed about the registrations of Dani Olmo and Pau Victor, who must be re-registered for the second half of the season in the next eight days, or will be unable to play for the rest of the season. In Olmo’s case, that would be mean being able to leave the club for free too.
However Sport say they are calm, are the players, as they have plans in place. Today they presented a court case, in which they assert that the right to work for Olmo and Victor should trump any regulations from the league. In their eyes, they should be able to use the salary of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, injured long-term, to register both Olmo and Victor, despite already having used it to bring in Wojciech Szczesny. They did similar with Gavi after he signed a new contract, and a decision will be made on the 27th of December.
The difference is that La Liga will defend themselves in this case, as opposed to the Gavi case. Barcelona have approved a new sponsorship deal with Nike, and believed that would be sufficient to increase their salary limit in order to register both on advice from La Liga. However Barcelona believe that pressure from Sevilla, Atletico Madrid and Athletic Club on Liga President Javier Tebas has told.
Christopher Nkunku has emerged on Barcelona’s radar. He has been offered to the club, but there are doubts about his physical condition. Via @sport pic.twitter.com/LP8exnPHN6
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 23, 2024
They have supposedly asked Tebas to clamp down on the loopholes allowing Barcelona to register players, and the Catalan giants suspect that this is the issue behind the change of tone.
If the court ruling goes against Barcelona, then they will sell a commercial package giving a company the right to sell the VIP boxes at the newly renovated Camp Nou for the next 20 years. Barcelona are €60m short of registering both, and during a board meeting on Monday, this was submitted as the plan B.
🚨🇺🇾 BREAKING: Josema Gimenez’s injury is NOT serious and he could be available for Atleti’s game against Osasuna.@diarioas pic.twitter.com/YQ9q68iHs1
— Atletico Universe (@atletiuniverse) December 22, 2024
The idea was to sell that package for €200m, but they are now considering a smaller deal with a Qatari firm for €120m. It is not yet clear whether that deal is smaller because the VIP package is also less, or whether it is simply less money. If they do make the VIP package sale, then it will be sufficient to register the contract renewals of Pedri and Gavi too.
Laporta has been seen traveling around the Middle East and Asia in recent months, with many believing that he has been seeking investment, both in the VIP seats, and their unpaid for Barca Vision shares. Amid healthy criticism from his political rivals, Laporta will face more questions about selling more club assets three years on from taking power, when previously he had put it down to the situation that he had inherited from the previous board.
