How Barcelona will line up with Dani Olmo

Tom Weber

Updated: 7 Aug 2024 15:14 BST
4 min read

Dani Olmo is Barcelona's marquee signing of the summer, but how will he fit into Hansi Flick's system?

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The former La Masia product has returned to his boyhood club, having initially left Barcelona as a teenager after feeling that his path to the first team was blocked.

The idea to one day come back never left the Spaniard, however, and he will now have the chance to prove to the club brass that they were wrong not to bet on him.

Olmo arrives in a whopping €62 million deal from RB Leipzig after a standout Euro 2024 campaign with Spain. Olmo is sure to be a guaranteed starter under Hansi Flick, but it is not entirely clear where he will actually fit in.

How Barca will line up with Olmo

Indeed, there is an argument to be made that Barcelona didn't really need Olmo and actually had more pressing issues that needed to be fixed with their limited budget.

Either way, the player is now back in Catalunya and Flick will have to find a way to use him. At Euro 2024, Olmo came into the Spain side to replace the injured Pedri.

However, when the erstwhile wonderkid is fully fit, he is an undisputed starter, as is Gavi who is also currently nursing an injury. Then, of course, there are Ilkay Gundogan, who already became a talismanic figure for Barca in his first campaign at the club, and Frenkie de Jong.

Flick has thus far lined his side up in a 4-2-3-1 shape, though a host of key players have been missing in pre-season due to injury and international duty.

The following is how the German could deploy his team when everyone is fully fit. In goal, Mark-Andre Ter Stegen keeps his place, while Alejandro Balde will start at left-back. Barcelona are still in the market for a right-back, but Jules Kounde is expected to start there.

The centre-back partnership will consist of wonderkid Pau Cubarsi and Ronald Araujo, though the latter is likely to miss the rest of the year with injury.

READ MORE: Latest Barcelona transfer news

© IMAGO - Will Frenkie de Jong lose his place?

In midfield, Barcelona are missing a traditional 'pivot,' the kind of player they have been chasing for over a year. However, it looks unlikely that they will be able to sign anyone for that position.

This means that Gavi, De Jong, Pedri and Gundogan will have to battle it out for two spots, with two of the first three names more likely to start there. We think that Gavi and Pedri will get the nod, with Gundogan playing as a ten.

However, the ten position is also where Olmo is at his best, so he could easily displace the German. We believe, however, that the 26-year-old may actually start at left-wing, while Lamine Yamal plays on the right.

Given that Barcelona's erstwhile top target was Nico Williams, they are clearly looking to bolster that left-wing position, so this is likely where Olmo will have to play unless Flick is brave enough to drop two of the aforementioned four elite central midfielders.

Up top, Robert Lewandowski is a shoo-in to start.