Man Utd given Olmo boost as unwritten transfer agreement reached between rivals

Manchester United have been handed a major boost to their hopes of signing Dani Olmo after PSG and Barcelona signed an unofficial 'non-aggression pact'.

Olmo joined Barca from RB Leipzig last summer for around £51million after starring for Spain in their run to winning Euro 2024. But due to Barca being unable to stay under the league’s wage cap he was only allowed to play for the opening four months of the campaign.

The midfielder has only made seven starts since his arrival, though he has scored six goals and notched one assist. But Barca's financial troubles are set to catch up to them once again in January.

The Spanish giants must register him again if he is to continue to play for the club. But a Catalan court has now blocked Barca's appeal against La Liga's decision to reject Olmo's registration.

That means the Spaniard is set to become a free agent in the January transfer window and can move immediately for free from New Year's Day. United are one of the clubs monitoring his situation.

And their hopes of securing Olmo's signing have been boosted after Barca entered into a 'non-aggression pact' with PSG. That is according to Sport, who claimed the French giants had also been interested in the midfielder.

But PSG's sporting director Luis Campos is keen to maintain a good relationship with his Barca counterpart Deco. To help with that there is now said to be an unwritten, but implicit, pact that the two clubs will not go after the other's star players.

It is understood that PSG believe that taking any step towards signing Olmo would be seen as an 'unjustified declaration of war'. Barca are battling to register Olmo, with La Liga welcoming Friday's rejection of their appeal.

A statement read: "LaLiga has today learned of the ruling ... rejecting the request for the provisional registration of Dani Olmo until 30 June, 2025, on the grounds that none of the necessary conditions for the adoption of an interim measure have been met.

"The ruling also stresses that: 'The purpose of allowing additional spending is so that a long-term injury does not weaken the team's competitiveness, not to use a long-term injury to allow the registration of players whose salaries exceed the limit, which is what FC Barcelona is attempting'."

United are among several Premier League clubs keeping tabs on Olmo. The Red Devils are in desperate need of reinforcements, having plunged to 14th place in the table amid a run of dismal defeats.

A summer of heavy spending means there is a lack of funds available for new boss Ruben Amorim to pursue big name players. But Olmo's potential status as a free agent makes him a prime target for United.