Why Dani Olmo will NOT be joining Barcelona anytime soon
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 23 May 2023 08:54 CDT
- 7 min read
It seems as though we can’t go more than a week without another report popping up in the Spanish press, reporting Barcelona’s unquenchable desire to sign RB Leipzig forward Dani Olmo.
After departing the club as a youth player to continue his career in Croatia and then on to Leipzig, Olmo has been painted as something akin to a prodigal son in the Spanish press, with numerous reports suggesting the 23-year-old attacking midfielder would be the perfect solution to all of Barca’s many problems.
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However, while the Catalan side may be more than happy to welcome Olmo back to the club, there are a number of factors that get in the way of such a move when we remove the rose-tinted glasses and in many ways this persistent rumour simply makes no sense.
He will cost too much money
Olmo only made the move to RB Leipzig in January 2020 for a fee of €22 million, so if Barca are serious about signing the midfielder they’ll likely have to fork over much more than that.
Indeed, Olmo still has a contract with the Bundesliga side that is set to run until 2024 and as such he has a current market value of no less than €44m at this moment in time.
If Barca really are as interested in signing the Spain international, they’ll probably have to part with the best part of €50m to sign him in January or next summer. And that seems highly unlikely.
Barca are still on a shoe-string budget
While the local press may not be overly stressed about pointing this fact out on a daily basis, Barcelona are still €1.3 billion in debt and will likely have very little money to spend in January.
In truth, the Catalan side will likely prioritise Bosman signings and avoid transfer targets that will demand sizeable fees up front to complete.
As such, it remains highly unlikely that the club even have the capacity to offer €50m for a single player, even if they are able to sell a number of first team stars in the coming transfer window.
