RB Leipzig have announced that attacking midfielder Dani Olmo has left the club to rejoin Barcelona, ending a four-and-a-half-year stay in Saxony.
Olmo rejoins Barcelona for €60m and signs a contract at the club until 2030. The 26-year-old is a product of the La Masia academy but never featured for the first team before moving to Dinamo Zagreb.
On leaving Leipzig, Olmo said (on Twitter):
A young club, a young player… We grew up, won our first trophies and made history together. Two Cups and the Super Cup are just some of the many unforgettable moments that’ll always stay with me. Thank you RB Leipzig, you’ll forever be in my heart.
The 26-year-old’s departure from Leipzig will not be as greatly impactful as other players leaving. As Stefan Bienkowski says, Olmo has only been fit for 38% of Leipzig’s league minutes since joining the club in 2020. This was seen last year where despite having a strong start to the season he was unable to reach this level of form again later in the season.
Leipzig have already begun to look for a replacement and Lyon’s Rayan Cherki is one of the candidates along with Johan Bakayoko of PSV and Francisco Conceição from Porto. The fee for the 19-year-old is likely to be around €15-20m.
GGFN | Jack Meenan
