Dani Olmo's future at Barcelona was plunged into uncertainty on Tuesday as LaLiga poured cold water on the financially troubled Catalan giants' frantic attempts to register the Spain star.
LaLiga's strict spending limits restricted Olmo's initial registration to December 31, 2024 after Barcelona made the playmaker their flagship signing last summer.
The club was left scrambling for alternatives to get Olmo on the books before the clock struck midnight in Spain, having exhausted legal avenues to extend the registration to June 30, 2025.
Barcelona said on Tuesday that they had requested a new licence from the Spanish football federation for Olmo and forward Pau Victor, who also faces the same registration predicament.
Spanish media reported that the move would buy Barcelona precious time to complete the administrative formalities.
"The club wishes to deny that it has asked for or received any extension from any other organisation for the registration being requested," it added in a statement.
LaLiga released a statement shortly afterwards saying that as of Tuesday "Barcelona has presented no alternative" complying with the league's budget rules "that allows it to register any player from January 2".
Barcelona had submitted documents to LaLiga showing it would generate 100 million euros ($103 million) to finance Olmo's registration by selling VIP seats at its future expanded Camp Nou stadium, but the paperwork was advancing slowly, Spanish media said.
A Barcelona court had rejected a request to extend the registration on Monday, after a commercial court in the Catalan capital made the same decision last week.
The heavily indebted club registered Olmo with 80 per cent of injured defender Andreas Christensen's pay thanks to an exception in LaLiga's budget rules allowing clubs to replace long-term absentees.
The commercial court argued that overspending was authorised to prevent a long-term injury undermining a team's competitiveness but not to register players whose wages exceeded the salary limit.
Olmo's contract, initially set to run until 2030, includes a clause that would release him if he could not be registered, according to Spanish media.
The Spain playmaker's potential departure due to an administrative imbroglio would be a damaging and embarrassing blow to the third-placed Blaugrana's title bid.
The 26-year-old has notched five goals in LaLiga this season and starred as Spain clinched Euro 2024 glory in Germany.