Dani Olmo was the only big name that FC Barcelona incorporated into their squad in the recently-closed summer transfer window. The Spaniard joined from RB Leipzig after having been linked with the Catalan club for the last few months.
A few days after his arrival, Barcelona were able to get him registered with La Liga using 80% of the salary space of Andreas Christensen, who is out with an injury and is not expected to return to action for the next four months. However, his registration has generated some debate, especially in Madrid, that the league authorities have favored Barcelona unfairly to allow Olmo’s registration.
However, as SPORT has reported, the General Director of La Liga, Javier Gomez, denied such accusations as he spoke to the media at the event of the closing of the summer transfer window. He clarified how the Article 77 of La Liga Club Budgeting Rules works:
“Three years ago, when a player got injured, they could be deregistered, and once they were cleared to play, they could be registered again at any point in the season, not just during the summer or winter transfer windows. Now, when a player gets injured, you can bring in another player at 80% of the injured player’s salary.”
“The only new addition is that if you don’t have financial Fair Play (FFP), you’re allowed to register another player due to the injury. However, if you don’t manage to re-balance your FFP over the season, starting on July 1 of the following season, you will lose the ability to register and sign new players for the next season.”
The La Liga Director went on to explain:
“It’s the same treatment applied when you dismiss a coach and lack financial Fair Play (FFP), or when a youth player breaks through, and you want to renew their contract without having Fair Play. You’re granted an exception.”
“This rule has been in place for all clubs since the 2023/24 season. This treatment has been applied to eight clubs with twelve players. Could Christensen recover and play? From a regulatory standpoint, yes, and Araujo as well.”
“All clubs have agreed that if a player recovers before the four months, they can return to play, and the important thing is to treat everyone equally.”
Thus, as Gomez made it quite clear, there were no unfair favors granted to Barcelona by La Liga in the registration of Dani Olmo. But the Catalans will still have to find a permanent solution for his registration as he is only temporarily registered using Christensen’s salary space.
