Analyzing how Dani Olmo fits Barcelona lineup, realistic expectations, and criticism of transfer

Barcelona have just signed one of the most talented players on the transfer market and one of the most impressive performers at Euro 2024, yet they are being roundly criticized by even their own fans for the move.

Dani Olmo is headed to Barcelona from RB Leipzig for a 60 million euro transfer fee after weeks of negotiations, and his signing comes in the aftermath of a failed pursuit of Athletic Club star Nico Williams, who has been one of LaLiga’s best wingers over the past two seasons.

Williams was an even bigger part of Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph and tabbed by Barcelona star and national teammate Lamine Yamal as a dream signing for Barca; the two formed an unstoppable winger partnership this summer.

Olmo could be faced with the task of being the next starting left winger for Barcelona, forming a trident with an aging Robert Lewandowski and the emerging Yamal, who is threatening to become the new face of LaLiga after his exploits at the Euros for Spain.

Let’s a take a closer look at what Olmo brings to the table for Barcelona and delve into why the 26-year-old RB Leipzig star is viewed as more of an unnecessary expense by many fans rather than being celebrated as a very talented new attacking piece for a Barcelona side reeling from another title defeat to rivals Real Madrid.

Olmo’s best position

Although there’s talk that Dani Olmo can play as a left winger for Barcelona – since this is by far their biggest position of need in the attack – he actually didn’t start any games on the left wing for RB Leipzig last season.

Part of that is because Leipzig play a narrow formation since they are so loaded with attacking midfield and striker talent that the width comes from the wing backs/wide midfielder, but part of that should be because Olmo doesn’t really fit as a left winger.

Olmo is a playmaker. That’s what he is on the football pitch. His best role is wherever allows him to play in between the midfield and the striker, linking the mess in the middle of the pitch to the spot where all the action is happening.

Last season, Olmo made 18 of his 21 starts as an attacking midfielder with one start as a center midfielder, one start as a center forward, and even one start as a right-sided midfielder.

Olmo just doesn’t have the dynamism to play on the wings. He’s not going to be able to beat the best fullbacks in the world in one-on-ones in the Champions League, and you can easily imagine Dani Carvajal taking care of Olmo on the wing in the Clasico.

There are going to be people who draw diagrams on screenshots to try and sell you on the merits of playing Olmo as a left winger, but this is a position where maximum quality is expected at an elite club like Barcelona.

Look around at the left wingers in LaLiga. You had Savio last season, now Kylian Mbappe joining Vinicius Junior at Real Madrid with Nico Williams still at Athletic Club after Barcelona struck out on him.

Compare Williams on the wing or Serie A targets Rafael Leao and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia to Olmo, and you will see that there’s a big difference in playing style. Those two average more dribbles per game and are more adept at creating their own chances in transition from nothing because of their speed and explosiveness.

If Barcelona are going to pay upwards of 50 million euros on a player, then they need to use him at his best position. Olmo has never won two dribbles per game in a single season, which is the bare minimum for a top winger at a club with Champions League title aspirations.

The right wing is Lamine Yamal’s to own, so aside from his best position as a 10 or shoehorning Olmo as a left winger, the only other option would be to play him as a traditional center midfielder.

While Olmo is willing to defend from the front as an attacking midfielder, he doesn’t have the strength or the training in reading the game as a covering midfielder to play in a double-pivot behind an attacking midfielder.

Olmo averaged a healthy 1.2 tackles per game last season, but he only picked up 0.6 interceptions per game and those are numbers that set career-highs for him in a full season.

He’s a No. 10. Olmo is a playmaker, and while he is a strong, well-rounded one in the modern game, that’s really all he is. Playing him outside of this scope could be a recipe for disaster on Barca’s part, given the standards set by competing with Real Madrid and the price tag being spent.

The traits that can help Barca

The best way Dani Olmo can help Barcelona is by consistently being involved in the final third through chance creation and the threat of scoring a goal from difficult situations.

Olmo is a highly technical player, like many La Masia products, and he has refined his skills for RB Leipzig, where he has been one of the Bundesliga’s classiest players over the years.

Barcelona fans can expect Olmo to fit Hansi Flick’s system as a playmaker by pressing from the front, winning possession in dangerous areas and turning that possession into direct opportunities for the forwards.

Olmo won’t give away the ball cheaply, because he is an intelligent and careful passer without being so careful as to avoid any risks, thus curtailing his upside as a creator.

To that end, Olmo is a strong dribbler in tight spaces, as he has a high football IQ that can be observed in how he turns into space and is able to slightly delay the play so he can spot the run of a more progressive attacking teammate.

Why the move has been criticized

It’s abundantly clear that Dani Olmo is a playmaker through and through, and RB Leipzig became more inclined to keeping him in an attacking midfield role as time went on.

While Olmo’s transfer value is theoretically boosted by his versatility and the thought that he can play on the left wing instead of, say, Nico Williams, the reality is a little harsher for Barcelona fans to swallow.

Olmo is joining Barcelona for around 60 million euros to play a position that they could have just as easily kept for one of their other academy products, such as Pedri or Gavi when he returns from injury.

But even with those guys out, Ilkay Gundogan could be an attacking midfielder, and Olympic breakout star Fermin Lopez, who shined at the beginning of the 2023/24 season for Barcelona, could be nearly as good as an option as Olmo for literally free.

It is already unpopular to pay top dollar for a playmaker, especially when rivals Real Madrid got a dream No. 10 season out of Jude Bellingham, who was viewed as a prototypical box-to-box midfielder before arriving at the club. Meanwhile, Madrid also beat Barca to the signing of Arda Guler last summer, and he is a generational teenage playmaker who cost a bargain 20 million euros.

Olmo comes to Barcelona as a more established player after multiple strong seasons in Leipzig and a brilliant European Championship tournament for victors Spain, but he’s also 26 and won’t have any resale value at the end of a four-year deal.

And yes, he is injury prone, having started 20 games just once in the 2020/21 season. To that end, he’s never been one of the best players in the Bundesliga, often overshadowed by his own Leipzig teammates in the attacking midfield, whether that be Christopher Nkunku or Xavi Simons.

Realistic statistical expectations

Although Olmo is a talented playmaker who can add goal-scoring upside, the new Barcelona midfielder has actually only cleared five assists once in a single season, which was back in the 2020/21 season when he registered nine assists.

That season was also the only time Olmo hit five goals in a campaign. Those are pretty modest numbers for the career-highs of an attacking player who is joining Barcelona for over 50 million euros, and you can read it as a positive or a negative that they came in his only Bundesliga season with at least 20 starts.

Barcelona are paying a premium price to Leipzig for Olmo after he won the Euros, so they will be expecting the best performances possible from the Spanish international.

Therefore, a minimum of 5 goals and 10 assists is a realistic goal to set for Olmo, though it’s hard to see him scoring more than 10 goals or more than 12 assists, even if, in theory, he has more upside with Barcelona because of his roots at La Masia and their playing style under Flick which is a perfect marriage of the Bundesliga and Barcelona philosophies.

The thing is, Olmo had plenty of opportunity to post big numbers in Leipzig with marksmen like Lois Openda and Benjamin Sesko to score from his passes, other great playmakers to work with in a system favoring that playing style, and a perennially steady defense in a goal-friendly league.

As Robert Lewandowski will attest with how his goals halved from the Bundesliga to LaLiga, the Spanish top flight is much more difficult for attacking players stylistically with rougher defenses and more low blocks.

Despite being viewed as a great playmaker, it is worth noting that Olmo never averaged two key passes per game in the Bundesliga, highlighting that he is more of a “jack of all trades” rather than a truly elite playmaker. Under this lens, statistical expectations for Olmo as an assist provider must be measured, even though in Flick’s system and with players like Lewa around him, he does have the capacity to greatly improve from his Leipzig production.

Players Olmo helps…and hurts

Perhaps nobody benefits more from Barcelona signing Olmo than Lewandowski himself, because he’s always produced his finest work when a playmaker is right there with him.

Now, Lewandowski isn’t getting a Thomas Muller clone in Olmo, who will very likely come nowhere near the 20 assists that the German legend once posted for Bayern when they took home the treble.

However, Olmo can help press with Lewa, feed him chances, and even help Lewa bump his own assist numbers up to 10 after the Barcelona striker registered a quietly strong 8 in the 2023/24 season.

Olmo isn’t an ideal left winger, but he can help the team a lot more than Joao Felix did as a scoring option and a pressing option, which will be good news for Pedri, who has also flipped between the 10 and the left wing positions at Barcelona.

In that same vein, Olmo can hurt Pedri and even Gavi by taking minutes away from the Barcelona phenoms in midfield, and his presence as a 60 million euro signing definitely hurts Fermin, effectively walling a potential breakout star off from the regular minutes he would need to shine at Barcelona.