Dani Olmo faces missing another La Liga game due to registration delay

Barcelona have named summer signing Dani Olmo in their squad to face Athletic Club on Saturday evening in La Liga, but there is still no certainty that he will be able to play.

Olmo, who cost around 60 million euros from RB Leipzig earlier this month, missed last weekend’s La Liga opener against Valencia because he was not registered to play.

Barcelona’s ongoing financial problems of recent years are to blame, they are stuck with the 1:4 spending rules limit until they can meet the necessary parameters to return to 1:1. The club needs to build enough space within its budget before Olmo can be signed up to play.

Hopefully, Barca have included Olmo in the list of teams that will visit Athletic Club. But his name had an asterisk next to it, indicating that he remains dependent on a La Liga signing.

Last week, the Catalans said goodbye to Ilkay Gundogan, who returned to former club Manchester City on a free transfer, removing his contract from the salary burden. A deal that would see Clement Lenglet join Atletico Madrid on loan also looks close to being agreed.

Olmo has been training as usual and the situation will be very frustrating for him. Gundogan was in the same boat at this time last year, he just arrived, and various economic “instruments” were introduced in 2022 to make it possible to register Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha in 2022.

In addition to the injured Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen has joined the list of unavailable players. The Danish defender has suffered an Achilles injury, the club have confirmed, with reports suggesting it could be up to two months before he can play again.

Christensen has been linked with Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United, and the injury could stop the possibility of selling him and raising more money.

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