Premier League defending champions Manchester City are reportedly pursuing young Spanish attacking midfielder Dani Olmo. Olmo was impressive at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship earlier this year, which has attracted interested from several clubs.
Sportske Novosti (via Transfer Market Web) have reported that City are interested in signing Dani Olmo, along with clubs like Borussia Dortmund, AS Roma, Juventus, PSG, and Ajax, to name a few. The Dinamo Zagreb youngster could be bought for around €40 million as per the report.
Dani Olmo is a former Barcelona academy graduate who signed for Zagreb in 2014 and came through the ranks at the Croatian club. He has made 119 appearances for Zagreb, scoring 32 goals and assisting 27 times for the club since debuting in 2015. Olmo made a big impression at the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, which Spain won, where he scored in the final against Germany. He won a cap for the senior Spanish side earlier this month and scored on his debut.
Let’s take an in-depth look at the 21-year-old in this scout report:
DANI OLMO
Strengths
Olmo is an attacker who can play in multiple positions, out wide on the flanks or as an attacking midfielder behind the striker. The 21-year-old is very quick with the ball at his feet, while also being someone who can dribble past the opposition players with his wonderful technique.
The Spaniard links midfield with attack very well with his short and accurate passing, as well as his ability to drag opposition defenders from out of their position.
He often drops deep into midfield areas to pick up the ball to run at defenders or play a clever ball behind the backline, while also drifting into central areas from out wide. In the Champions League this season, he has averaged 4.3 dribbles as well as 2 shots per game.
He is an all-round attacker who can dribble, run past players using his pace, as well as string together passes to run the game.
Weaknesses
As an attacking midfielder/winger, Olmo doesn’t register too many assists or goals, which will be a cause for concern. He has also only played for Dinamo Zagreb in senior football and it will be interesting to see if he can step up to a play in a truly competitive league like the Premier League.
City boast players in attacking areas who are prolific in front of goal and are expected to regularly chip in with goals and assists which might be something Olmo finds it difficult to do given the defensive shape teams take up when facing the Sky Blues.
Verdict
Olmo is a footballer with a lot of talent and potential to be very good. There might be a few hiccups along the way but if Pep stays around for a reasonable amount of time, he can certainly work his magic on the attacker.
With David Silva, Fernandinho and Sergio Aguero unlikely to remain at the club for too long now, Olmo can join the likes of Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden to usher in another generation of champions at the club.
