Manchester City have been linked with a statement move for Barcelona ace Dani Olmo, and this speculation has drawn a response from the player’s agent.
Olmo completed a dream move to Barcelona in August last year when the Catalan giants paid RB Leipzig €60million (then £50m) for his services. The attacking midfielder had spent time in La Masia but left as a teenager to continue his development with Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia.
Olmo’s time at Barca has been fraught with difficulty so far, however. The Blaugrana have struggled to register him twice this season as a result of their tricky financial situation.
Barca ultimately did manage to sign Olmo on in both halves of the campaign, and he has gone on to notch 11 goals and seven assists as part of their treble-winning season.
Hansi Flick’s side have embarrassed Real Madrid by beating them in both the Copa del Rey (Spanish Cup) and Supercopa de Espana (Spanish Super Cup) finals, while also winning their two LaLiga clashes – scoring four goals each time – on route to the title.
While Olmo is a top-class player, he has not had the impact he would have liked as a result of injury problems and the stop-start nature of his campaign.
He is now back to full fitness and is hoping to go into next season on top form. There have been some rumours he could secure an early exit by linking up with Pep Guardiola at Man City, though.
It emerged on April 7 that City are spying a big-money move for the Spain star after identifying him as an ideal replacement for Kevin De Bruyne in the No 10 role.
In an interview with Sky Germany reporter Patrick Berger, Olmo’s agent Andy Bara reacted to the City links by saying: “We are not talking to any other club. Dani is very happy in Barcelona at the moment, he’s winning titles there and is part of a great team.
“The rumours are not true. But of course, you never know what the future will bring.”
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Florian Wirtz an alternative to Dani Olmo
It seems it is unlikely the 27-year-old will be moving to the Etihad to succeed from De Bruyne this summer.
But a future switch to the Premier League cannot be completely ruled out given Barca’s recent financial woes.
Florian Wirtz could become City’s new playmaker this summer instead of Olmo. The Cityzens are battling Liverpool, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid for his capture.
Bayern have already sent Wirtz’s camp a lucrative five-year contract offer. Bayer Leverkusen, however, would rather sell to a club abroad, which gives the 22-year-old’s other suitors a concrete chance.
Bayern’s opening proposal is expected to be worth around €100m (£84m) and is set to be quickly rejected. City are watching on and know they will need to get closer to Leverkusen’s €150m (£126m) asking price to forge an agreement.
Wirtz moving to Liverpool would be a shock, given City’s long pursuit of him, but there is a possibility that could happen. The details of his entourage’s secret talks with Liverpool emerged earlier on Saturday.
Should City miss out on the German, then TEAMtalk understands they will pursue Nottingham Forest talisman Morgan Gibbs-White.
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