Deal breaker: how time ran out for Barcelona and left Dani Olmo in limbo

Bar?a are seasoned in the art of rejigging finances to get transfers done but they have been denied over Olmo and Pau Victor ? for now
Rarely can a trademark have fitted so well, even if it wasn?t exactly the way Dani Olmo intended it. Not long ago the Barcelona midfielder lodged his own brand with the European Union; it includes the goalscoring celebration, borrowed from the Milwaukee Bucks basketball player Damian Lillard, in which he stands pointing at his wrist, asking what time it is. Over the past few days, the image has been everywhere and everyone else has been asking the same question, staring at their watches, waiting as the seconds tick by. The answer of course is: Olmo Time. Or it was supposed to be.
Instead, time has run out on him. Signed from RB Lepizig on a deal worth almost ?60m, Olmo has five months later been removed from the squad after the 31 December deadline passed without Barcelona meeting the league?s salary limit rules. By the following morning Olmo and the forward Pau V?ctor ? who was entitled to spend New Year?s Day hopping about shouting: ?Hello?! I?m here too!? ? had disappeared from La Liga?s website. Neither will be able to play for Barcelona again this season. They will have to wait until the summer to be registered ? if the club can meet the financial fair play rules then.
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