LaLiga have confirmed that they have rejected Barcelona's attempt to sign Dani Olmo for the second half of the season.
Olmo only joined Barcelona from RB Leipzig in the summer on a £50 million contract, but could only be registered on a temporary basis until the end of the calendar year due to LaLiga's ongoing financial constraints for Barcelona.
The Catalan giants have sought to re-register the attacking midfielder so he can play for them after December 31, while they have also sought to renew the registration of his teammate Pau Victor.
However, LaLiga have rejected Barcelona's proposal to register Olmo, who has emerged as a target for Manchester United and Manchester City.
In a statement released on Tuesday evening, LaLiga wrote: “FC Barcelona has not presented any alternative that would allow it, in accordance with LaLiga's economic control rules, to register players after January 2.”
Barcelona will return to action on January 4 when they take on Barbastro in the Copa del Rey, and Olmo will be ineligible to play as things stand.
However, they have not given up hope for a solution.
Barcelona released their own statement on Tuesday, revealing that they have applied for a new license from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to register Olmo and Victor.
The statement read: 'FC Barcelona announces that it has applied for a new license from the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) for the players Daniel Olmo and Pau Víctor.
'The Club also wishes to deny that it has applied for or received a suspension of payments from any other body for the requested registration.'
According to Mundo Deportivo, RFEF sources have claimed that the federation cannot process any licenses without LaLiga's approval, which would be another potential blow for Barcelona.
But the Spanish club still believe they can reach an agreement to keep Olmo.
Unfortunately for them, if Olmo failed to do so before the 11:59 PM New Year's Eve deadline, he would no longer be eligible to play for the side from January 1, as, according to point 5 of Article 141 of the competition rules, 'footballers whose license has been withdrawn will not do that'. be able to obtain a license from the same team of the club to which they were previously associated during the same season.'
With Olmo's future far from certain, several Premier League clubs are circling.
According to reports in Spain, in addition to United and City, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Tottenham are also closely monitoring his situation.
Indeed, Arsenal are said to have been the first club to show interest in Olmo, with Chelsea and Spurs recently joining the bandwagon.
Predictably, they are not alone in the race to be the winner of Euro 2024. German giants Bayern Munich and Bayer Leverkusen are weighing him up and his former side Leipzig are making it clear he will always have a home there.
Over the weekend, Paris Saint-Germain joined the fray as they continued to look for creative reinforcements, with Lyon's Rayan Cherki considered another option amid the French club's own financial problems.
PSG boss Luis Enrique already knows Olmo from the Spanish national team and is monitoring his situation at Barcelona.
However, the player himself is reportedly remaining professional throughout the saga and is determined to see out his contract, which runs until 2030.
He trained on New Year's Eve from 10 a.m., despite not knowing where his future lies, AS reported on Tuesday.