Barcelona make fresh attempt to register Dani Olmo after losing second appeal

Barcelona applied for new players’ licences for Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor with the Spanish FA (Rfef) on Tuesday, while the club denied claims of requesting any delay from governing bodies for their registrations.

The announcement was made hours before the midnight registration deadline.

Barcelona lost a second appeal to register the players for the remainder of the season on Monday, with the club unable to meet La Liga’s wage cap.

“Barcelona informs that it has applied for a new licence for the players Daniel Olmo and Pau Victor to the Rfef,” the Catalan club said in a statement. “The club would like to deny having requested or receiving any moratorium to any governing body for these inscriptions.”

Barcelona signed Olmo in August for around €55m (£45m) but the attacking midfielder was registered for only the first half of the season.

The club managed to register Olmo and forward Víctor after long-term injuries kept first-team players out of the squad for months, allowing them to allocate a portion of their wages. Article 77 of La Liga rules allows clubs to temporarily use up to 80% of a player’s salary on an alternative in the event of injury.

Efforts to extend both registrations have hit repeated roadblocks, with Barcelona’s appeals dismissed by La Liga and various judicial authorities.

While Olmo and Víctor will be free agents after the deadline, Barcelona could meet the economic requirements to sign them before the transfer market closes in February. However, according to the Rfef rules, a player cannot be signed by the same club twice in the same season. Olmo, a Spain international, has a clause in his contract that allows him to unilaterally depart should the club fail to register him.

Barcelona plan to raise funds by selling VIP box seats at the Camp Nou stadium, potentially generating over €100m euros, subject to La Liga approval.

Pau Víctor could also be unavailable to Barcelona from 1 January if the club’s second appeal fails. Photograph: Matthieu Mirville/DPPI/Shutterstock

The Spanish league said later on Tuesday, however, that Barcelona “have not provided any alternative that, in compliance with La Liga’s economic control regulations, would allow them to register any player as of Jan. 2.”

The club is currently third in La Liga, trailing leaders Atlético Madrid by three points, and will play against Barbastro in the Copa del Rey on Saturday.