Manchester United’s transfer policy under the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer regime has been about building a team of youthful players that will likely challenge for the Premier League title in a couple of years time, which has been a departure from the last few years where they have bought experienced players looking for an instant short-term impact.
United have already signed one very exciting young player in Aaron Wan-Bissaka, and are pursuing players in a similar age bracket. The latest to be linked with a move to the English club is Spanish attacking midfielder Dani Olmo, who had a fantastic European Under-21 Championship tournament recently, where he was named Man of the Match in the final of the tournament which Spain won.
The report in Express states that Solskjaer and co. have been impressed with the youngster and that the Red Devils could make a bid of around £35 million for him. United aren’t the only team interested in the attacking midfielder as several big sides, including Borussia Dortmund, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Liverpool are also keeping tabs on him. Bayer Leverkusen have reportedly made an offer of around £22 million for him, which was rejected.
Olmo currently plays for Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, having moved to the club from Barcelona in 2014. The 21-year-old played for the youth side of the Croatian team before becoming a regular in the senior team and had an impressive 2018-19 season.
What will he bring to the table?
Olmo is a versatile player who can play out wide on the wings or as a central attacking midfielder. The Spaniard likes to drift into pockets of space, often moving from his position to exploit gaps in the opposition’s defence.
The youngster has pace to burn and likes to dribble with the ball at his feet and take on defenders. A good passer of the ball, with great movement with and without the ball, Olmo is a quintessential Spanish player with his short and quick passing. With good technique, ability to use both feet and shoot from distance, he is a goal threat, as he showed in the 2018-19 season, scoring 12 goals and providing 9 assists for Dinamo Zagreb.
Olmo has a good work-rate, is smart in getting away from defenders when his side is attacking and combines well with teammates to move the ball forward.
Olmo’s biggest weakness is perhaps his physicality as he is a player who is not massively built, while he is not good when attacking or defending balls in the air. This might be a hindrance to an extent but as United’s neighbours have shown, with the proper gameplan there is every possibility of succeeding in England despite going against all the age-old conventional norms.