Why signing Dani Olmo could be terrible for Barcelona | OneFootball

At Euro 2024, Dani Olmo was simply fantastic. In six appearances for Spain, the soon-to-be Barcelona midfielder scored three goals and collected two assists as La Roja were crowned European champions.

However, for RB Leipzig fans, there must have been a sense of frustration witnessing their midfield maestro perform at such a consistent standard, but why is this the case?

Dani Olmo’s horrendous injury record

Despite his clear ability to perform at a world-class level, to do so for six games in a row would have felt like a rarity for those associated with Die Roten Bullen watching on. In fact, as per Transfermarkt, during Olmo’s four-and-a-half-year stint in Saxony, the 26-year-old has only played 47% of the minutes valuable to him.

Since arriving in Germany in 2020, the Bundesliga outfit have played 216 matches, of which Olmo has only been available for 148. This means that he could have amassed 19,940 minutes of game time for Leipzig.

Nevertheless, Olmo has only registered 9,045 minutes of game time, meaning that he has ultimately missed 53% of the minutes available to him through injury. The Spaniard has averaged three injuries per season, and with many of them being muscle-related, it is hard to imagine that these will not carry on during his time in Barcelona.

This is a significant reason why many clubs refused to trigger his €60 million release clause in the summer.

Is Dani Olmo’s sale a positive for RB Leipzig?

It has been reported that Leipzig are looking to secure Rayan Cherki’s signature from Olympique Lyon as Olmo’s successor, and while fans of the French outfit may share the same frustrations regarding consistency, they cannot put the blame down to injuries.

Instead, Leipzig see the talent Cherki possesses and hopes to extract it on a more regular basis. Having only suffered one injury during his four-year career, they do not need to worry about consistent muscle tears as displayed with Olmo.

As well as this, it is understood that they will sign the Frenchman for a third of the price they will receive from Barcelona for Olmo’s services, and Leipzig will also believe that one day they will be able to sell Cherki for around €60 million too.

So overall, they receive €60 million for a player who has played less than half of the available minutes and will sign his replacement for €20 million, whom they will suggest can play every week. For Leipzig, this is a remarkable piece of business, but for Barcelona, they could see their investment ultimately prove to be ludicrous and significantly unreliable.

GGFN | Will Shopland