Barcelona's star signing sidelined for up to five weeks

The injury bug continues to bite Barcelona as they are set to be without star signing Dani Olmo following a hamstring injury in their win over Girona.

The Catalan club confirmed the injury and, unusually, provided an estimate on how long the star midfielder/forward would be out of action.

"Tests conducted this Monday morning on Dani Olmo have revealed that the FC Barcelona forward has injured his right hamstring. He is expected to be unavailable for the next four to five weeks," the statement read.

It's a significant blow for Barcelona not only because of the ever-growing list of injured midfielders, but because of how quickly Olmo's found his role in Hansi Flick's system.

Scoring the winner in his league debut against Rayo Vallecano, Olmo has scored in his first three league games, including a belter in the 4-1 victory against Girona.

He's been instrumental in Barcelona's quick touches and transitions in the attacking third, linking up quite well with Pedri and the front line. His absence is yet another headache for Flick who has been unable to count on a full squad since taking over.

While no injury comes at an opportune time, it's a really bad time for Barcelona to be without another midfielder. Olmo joins Marc Bernal, Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Fermin Lopez on the list of injured midfielders. In addition, it's a busy part of the schedule with Barcelona playing a significan number of matches in the next month.

Being conservative and assuming Olmo will need the full five weeks to recover, barring any setbacks, he is going to miss seven matches, five in LaLiga and two in the Champions League.

If there is any bit of good news for Barcelona on the injury front is that De Jong and Gavi have done part of the training with the group. Their returns are still up in the air with the former only now doing part of the training and the latter still recovering from the torn ACL. Barcelona are going to be cautious with Gavi given the severity of his injury.

In the attacking front, Ansu Fati should be available for Barcelona's Champions League opener this Thursday against Monaco.

Still, Olmo's injury is a blow for Barcelona with how well he's adapted. Flick will once again have to turn to his bench with Pablo Torre coming the closest to matching what Olmo can do or looking to La Masia to plug another hole in the squad.