According to a report in Marca, all the interested clubs have less than two months to sign RB Leipzig midfielder Dani Olmo.
Barcelona have a long-standing interest in the 26-year-old attacking midfielder but Premier League sides Manchester United and Liverpool have also been keeping tabs on Olmo primarily because he has a release clause of just €60 million.
However, the release clause in Olmo’s contract expires on July 15 so if either of the three teams are serious about signing him then they have to act fast.
Dani Olmo joined RB Leipzig from Dinamo Zagreb in a seven-year deal back in 2020 and so far, he’s played close to 150 games for the club. This season, he has played in 21 league games and despite playing out of position, the 26-year-old has nine goal contributions. His current market value is €50 million so a €60 million release clause is very much justified.
Barcelona have a head-start ahead of Liverpool and Man United:
Barcelona will massively struggle to gather €60 million but if they can sell off Raphinha for the right price they will have the money to sign the 26-year-old. Raphinha has been linked with a summer exit and Barca can bring in around €70-80 million for the winger.
Liverpool and Arsenal are one of the multiple clubs who have the Brazilian winger on their summer transfer wishlist.
Liverpool and Manchester United will have no problem in paying €60 million for Dani Olmo but the midfielder is a product of the Barca academy and he would love to go back to the Camp Nou. This means the Catalans will have to put in very little effort in convincing Olmo to choose them over the two EPL teams.
Apart from the financial might, Liverpool and Man United might struggle to challenge for the Leipzig man because the Anfield outfit have a new manager while Man United have failed to qualify for the Champions League next season.
The need for funds will most likely prompt Barcelona to sell Raphinha but if they can bring in Dani Olmo they will be able to kill two birds with one stone.
Dani Olmo can help out in multiple roles:
Firstly, Dani Olmo is an attacking midfielder which means by signing him, Barcelona won’t have to spend money on Bernardo Silva. Silva also has a similar release clause to Olmo but the Man City man is going to be 30 years old in August so it makes sense to go for a younger No 10. There’s no doubt Silva is a far superior AM but at the moment, financial management is going to be priority number one for the Barcelona board.
Secondly, once Raphinha leaves, Lamie Yamal is going to be the first-choice right-winger but Dani Olmo can also play in that flank meaning the 26-year-old can easily be the backup to Yamal next season.
In fact, this season, Olmo has played as many as 15 games on the right wing and 6 games on the left-hand side so it’s not like he’s a makeshift wide attacker.
If Barca do sell Raphinha they will have to bring in a new right-wing and at the same time, they will still need to sign a No 10 because currently, they do not have depth in that area of the pitch. However, if they can manage to jump over Man United and Liverpool to sign Dani Olmo then Laporta will be able to save a lot of money.
By selling Raphinha for around €80 million and then paying €60 million for the Leipzig man, Barcelona will still have €20 million left in their pockets which they can then use to patch up other areas of their squad.
