Barcelona are set for their first significant signing ahead of next season as the Catalan side have reportedly reached an agreement with RB Leipzig for Dani Olmo.
The former La Masia product is set to sign a six-year deal following a verbal agreement between Barcelona and Leipzig where the Bundesliga side is set to receive €55 million plus €7 million in add-ons.
🚨🔵🔴 EXCL: Dani Olmo to Barça, here we go! Verbal agreement in place after key mission in Leipzig for Barça director Deco.
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 6, 2024
€55m guaranteed package plus €7m in add-ons, main part difficult to reach.
Olmo agreed on six year deal valid until June 2030 and he wanted Barça move. pic.twitter.com/Y3aZHyf9iF
There was plenty of interest in Olmo following an outstanding performance with Spain during EURO 2024. Coming off the bench as a super sub early on, he came into the starting line-up following Pedri's injury in the quarterfinal against Germany.
Following the end of the tournament, where Spain were crowned champions, there were a number of teams interested in Olmo. Bayern Munich and Manchester City were among the interested clubs. Olmo put everything on standby, waiting to see if Barcelona made an offer.
In the end, Barcelona did make an offer and are paying a significant price.
Olmo's signing has caused division among the Catalan faithful; not because they think Olmo is a bad player rather because of the transfer fee and where he plays on the pitch.
For a club with financial issues like Barcelona, they can't afford to splash the cash and need to be measures on who they go after. Paying €55 million for Olmo isn't a good use of the funds in people's opinions.
The market is what it is but where the argument against Olmo makes sense is in the positioning.
Midfield is an area where Barcelona have plenty of cover. If the thought was Olmo could play on the wing, so can Fermin Lopez who had a good end of last season and is the standout player for Spain in the Paris Olympics. In that aspect, there is no need for Olmo given the options available.
At the same time, however, Olmo's signing could be one for the present and future. He's 26 and his best years are still ahead of him.
Ilkay Gundogan is 33 and this upcoming season could be his final one with Barcelona. Frenkie de Jong's contract ends in 2026 and has shown no inclination to wanting to renew so he could be offloaded at the end of the season.
Gavi won't be available until October at the earliest and he's going to need time to get match fit after such a long layoff. Then there's Pedri who, unfortunately, can't be trusted to stay fit.
Olmo is not without his own injury history but Barcelona are willing to afford that risk.
If there is anything that can ingratiate Olmo is the fact he wanted to come to Barcelona and was willing to wait. Again, with a handful of midfielders likely unavailable for the first match of the season and with Nico Williams all but staying at Athletic Bilbao, Olmo will get plenty of opportunities at the start of the season under Hansi Flick.