Barcelona are leading the way in LaLiga this season, another three-way title fight seeing Hansi Flick impress in his debut season in charge at the Camp Nou - even though of late injuries have hit hard and results domestically have dropped off.

Even so, they remain top of the table, level on points with Atletico Madrid and one clear of Real Madrid, both with a game in hand.

One of the big performers in a handful of matches this term has been Dani Olmo; no great surprise, given he was a €60m (£51m) summer signing after helping Spain win Euro 2024, but even with injuries having come his way he has scored five times in seven league starts, highlighting his quality and importance.

With a six-year deal in Catalunya in front of him and a €500m release clause in his contract, Olmo should be set to play a massive role in the club’s future - but yet again, financial issues at the club are threatening their best-laid plans and as it stands, he can’t play for them beyond the end of December.

So what is the state of play with the attacking midfielder and could he really leave the club for free as soon as January?

LaLiga registration woes in summer

As has been the case more than once of late, Barcelona signed players in the summer they could not immediately register due to their salary cap.

In Spain’s top flight, the salary limit for each team is based on their income generated, as well as their debts and so on, then a percentage of the end figure is allowed to be spent on wages to ensure self-sufficiency over the long term.

Barcelona have been over that limit and so pulling those infamous financial levers to allow them to juggle costs and register players.

This summer they weren’t initially able to register Olmo, along with Inigo Martinez, Pau Victor and Marc Casado, as a result of being beyond the cap.

Olmo’s situation and Barcelona’s financial plight

What allowed those players to be registered to feature for the club in the end was injuries: if a player is out for four months or more, 80 per cent of their salary can be reallocated elsewhere. Ronald Araujo’s absence allowed the aforementioned other three to be formally signed up for action, then Andreas Christensen’s injury meant room for Olmo - with a caveat.

As there wasn’t quite enough scope for his salary to be covered there, LaLiga allowed him to be registered only for the first half of 2024/25: in other words, until 31 December.

Right now, his registration isn’t going to allow him to play into January and beyond and Mundo Deportivo reported recently that when Olmo signed in summer, his deal included a clause which lets him leave for free if Barcelona fail to register him in January.

The Athletic report that the situation must be resolved before 1 January, so selling players is not an option to make financial space, because that would involve starting a new application for a new licence rather than renewing the existing one - and LaLiga rules say no player can have more than one licence in a season.

If he’s not registered to play domestically, he also cannot play in Europe either.

What have the club said?

“I am sure we will be able to register Dani Olmo,” said sporting director Deco last week, talking to the Spanish broadcaster Movistar.

“The club is working on that. Internal discussions are taking place and I can’t say much more here in public, but we will fix that.”

Later he added: “Work is being done and it is a subject on which there is not much to discuss,” when speaking to media after a charity match.

Olmo’s camp have not appeared to publicly state anything one way or the other, with the Athletic’s report saying they were “calm and confident” about finding a solution.

What will happen next?

All parties remain relaxed about the situation and of course the most probable course of action is that, one way or another, Barcelona navigate their way out of the latest problem.

They need to effectively either raise income or reduce costs, with the former the most likely scenario - but their leverage for selling assets or finding a fair price for whatever they are offering up in exchange for revenue will decrease the closer it gets to the end of the month.

For now, Olmo, boss Flick and the rest of the squad will merely be focused on trying to beat Atletico Madrid and stay top of the table in their final fixture before the winter break - and much could look different about the situation by the next time they take to the pitch.