Rumor Mongering: Liverpool "Monitoring" Dani Olmo
01/05/2025 01:30 AM
Barcelona's financial woes might be Liverpool's gain.
Barcelona's current financial mess isn't new; it's been an issue that's stretched for some time and even led to the eventual departure of icon and generational-talent, Lionel Messi. I guess one might say that they're messy que un club in Catalonia.
Unfortunately for the Blaugranes, what this means is that summer signings Dani Olmo and Pau Victor were only allowed to be registered for the first half of the current campaign, with their registrations expiring at the end of 2024 unless Barcelona were able to raise the requisite funds to stay on the right side of the financial restrictions that La Liga has set. Based on the league accounting, though, Barcelona failed to meet those qualifications and are, at this moment, unable to register Olmo and Victor to play. Olmo, in particular, is rumored to have an option to become a free agent if the club were unable to guarantee his ability to be registered.
This couldn't have come at a worse time for Barcelona, currently third in the table and a mere 5 points off league leaders and rivals Real Madrid. And losing Olmo would only make things harder for Hansi Flick's side. Enter the rumor mongers, then, who've named Liverpool and Manchester City as two clubs interested in retaining the services of Olmo should he opt to become a free agent.
Color us skeptical for a few reasons. First, Olmo is a graduate of La Masia and returning would undoubtedly have meant a lot to him personally. Flick, himself, indicated that Olmo and Victor have voiced their desire to remain in Catalonia. The other is that Liverpool are generally well-stocked in the positions he occupies: attacking midfielder and left-wing. Would Liverpool be willing to pip a player on the cheap who's contributed 6 goals in 16 appearances across all competitions for Barcelona? Likely. Would a player with that positional profile be high on Liverpool's needs? Less likely.
Should things change, we'll update you of course. For now, we'll say this is mostly transfer smoke born out of an incredibly complicated situation.
