Flick 'not happy' but confident as Barcelona tries to register Olmo for the rest of the season

BARCELONA, Spain — Coach Hansi Flick was “not happy” but expressed confidence in Barcelona on Friday as the club continued to try to register playmaker Dani Olmo for the rest of the season despite missing an end-of-the-year deadline to clear salary-cap space.

Flick said in a news conference ahead of the team's Copa del Rey match against fourth-division club Barbastro on Saturday that the situation wasn't ideal but he felt Barcelona was doing everything possible to solve the issue.

“To be honest, I was not happy about the situation, and the players aren't happy about the situation,” Flick said. “But we have to accept it. We are professionals. We have to play football, I have to coach, my coaching staff has to coach and the club has to (do) its job. The confidence is there. I'm always positive about things, but we have to wait for the decision.”

The Spanish league said Barcelona failed to meet financial fair-play rules ahead of the Tuesday deadline and the club was not allowed to register Olmo or any other player beyond 2024.

Local courts twice denied Barcelona's request to register Olmo and Pau Víctor, but Spanish media said the club remained hopeful of a turnaround after it reportedly received a payment on Friday of 100 million euros ($103 million) for VIP seats at the renovated Camp Nou stadium.

The money would theoretically allow the club to increase its salary cap and make room for Olmo and Víctor. Olmo, who moved from Leipzig to Barcelona in August, also isn’t allowed to play for Spain’s national team without being registered with the Catalan club.

Barcelona argued that the deadline for registering new players should be at the end of January, when the transfer windows closes, and not the end of December as the league currently requires.

Each Spanish league club has a salary cap which is calculated based on a series of factors, including revenues, costs and debts. It is proportional to roughly 70% of a club’s revenues.

Barcelona has endured difficulties registering some players recently because of its financial struggles. It has resorted to a series of financial levers in recent years, including the sale of future television rights. The club’s financial struggles led to the departure of Lionel Messi in 2021.