FC BARCELONA
Gündogan back to Man City: What else do Barcelona need to do to register Dani Olmo?
Despite the German player’s departure, the Spanish club still struggles with financial fair-play issues.
Dani Olmo’s registration to Barcelona’s squad has taken longer than expected, and his participation in the team’s second league game against Athletic Bilbao is still in doubt.
Earlier today, the Spanish club confirmed Ílkay Gündogan’s departure to Manchester City in a free transfer after only one year since his arrival to Barcelona. From the six signings they made last season, only defender Íñigo Martínez remains in the ship Hansi Flick coaches today; although Vitor Roque remains a Barcelona player, the club expects the Brazilian’s departure to Real Betis within the next few days.
Within an uncertain transfer market for the “Blaugranas,” Dani Olmo represented a light of hope for the team’s fans. The former academy player” returned to his home club during this summer transfer window. Barcelona paid a $61.3 million (€55 million) fee to Bundesliga side RB Leipzig, offered the player a six-year contract, and added a release clause of $557 million (€500 million).
As expected, Olmo has become one of Flick’s team pillars for this season. However, the player missed the team’s opening game against Valencia because of fitness levels, and now his participation against Athletic Bilbao on matchday two is still uncertain because Barcelona has not been able to register him.
What does Barcelona have to do to register Dani Olmo?
Once again, the team’s problem is financial fair play. Although Gündogan’s departure frees up the club with $10 million (€9 million) equivalent to the German’s salary, the team’s salary cap to register the player is still insufficient.
The club has a clear route plan to register the Spaniard: first, some players must leave the club. Previous departures of Oriol Romeu and Sergiño Dest have meant little savings for the club, so they need to keep selling players with high salaries who are not crucial for the team, as in Lenglet’s case.
The Frenchman arrived in Barcelona in 2018 and has a salary of $17 million (€16 million). Another departure that the club is contemplating is that of Ansu Fati. The Spaniard returned from his loan at Brighton and has a salary of $10.8 million (€9.7 million); his sale could help the team reach the 1:1 stability norm and allow Barcelona to register Dani Olmo. Another young talent on its way out is Mika Faye; the 20-year-old Senegalese has offers from Lille and Rennes, and Barcelona is looking for a permanent transfer, not a loan.
If the option to sell the players does not materialize, Barcelona will hope that the negotiation with sponsor Nike for a new contract yields fruit as the club wants to generate around $111 million for their kit deal, significantly more than the $66.8 million they get, and the decision is set to be made within the next week.