Will Barcelona president Joan Laporta manage to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor for the rest of the season? We should find out in the coming days. Another temporary solution seems likely. But is that good enough? And does it even really matter at this stage? The damage is done, too many promises have already been broken.
Olmo and Victor still want to play for Barca but are said to be "tremendously angry" with Laporta, while Raphinha has admitted that the whole sorry affair would make future transfer targets think twice about joining the club. "It can have an impact, I can’t say the opposite," the Brazilian admitted. "If I was in another club seeing the situation we are going through, I would probably wonder if coming here is the best option."
Barca like to see themselves as more than a club, a footballing force for good, a champion of Catalan culture. But the Blaugrana have made a mockery of their own motto over the past decade. Laporta was meant to repair a reputation tarnished by his incompetent predecessor Josep Maria Bartomeu, but he's only continued to sully the name of a once-proud social institution.
