Barcelona are fast running out of time to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor for the second half of the season. The Blaugrana used the emergency injury rule to register both with the Achilles’ tendon issue for Andreas Christensen, but now have just three weeks to find the money to do so without it.
Players in Spain are unable to be registered twice for one team during a season, and thus if they do not do so in three weeks’ time, by the 31st of December, Olmo and Victor will not be able to play again for Barcelona this season. It is a situation that is causing growing concern within the club, although there is a degree of faith that President Joan Laporta will repeat his usual trick of securing the necessary money at the last minute.
According to Diario AS, Barcelona have not made any progress with the matter in the last three months. The Nike deal will help once approved, while the Blaugrana have also brought forward season-ticket payments from January to December. Barcelona will also sell the rights to commercialise their VIP boxes at Camp Nou for the next 20 years, but the same outlet say even with all these measures and a bank guarantee from the directors, it will not be enough.
Nico Williams feels a greater desire to sign for Barça than four months ago. @tjuanmarti
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) December 9, 2024
As such, Laporta is looking for a ‘miracle investor’, potentially from Qatar, where he has spent much of the last month attempting to drum up business. So far he has not been successful though, and it will be a last-minute operation.
This situation emerges amid demands for more transparency about the club’s finances from opposition groups. Laporta has been criticised for kicking the can down the road with regard to absorbing the costs of his transfer business, but eventually that can will have to be picked up, and it appears Laporta is running out of road.
