Two years of Dani Olmo at RB Leipzig
The Spaniard moved to Leipzig on 25th January 2020 | Developed massively at the club and for his national team | 13 goals in 70 competitive games
RB Leipzig announced the signing of Dani Olmo on 25th January 2020. The Spanish midfielder joined the club from Dinamo Zagreb. Having arrived as a young talent, the 23-year-old is now very much an established player in the first team. Now, he’s hoping to kick on after an injury-hit season so far.
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When Dani Olmo became a Red Bull exactly two years ago, he had already experienced plenty in professional football. He became a U21 European Champion with Spain in 2019, having scored the winning goal in the final against his future teammates, Benjamin Henrichs and Lukas Klostermann.
Olmo was also a five-time Croatian title winner and three-time Croatian cup winner from his time at Dinamo Zagreb. He made the unconventional choice to leave FC Barcelona’s famous “La Masia” academy at the age of 16 to move to Croatia. Thanks to this decision, he already had over 100 competitive games under his belt at such a young age, including 29 matches in European competitions.
Dani arrives in Leipzig
13 goals in 70 competitive games
Our number 25 has continued his progress in his two years in Leipzig, playing 70 times in all competitions for the club. “El Mago” has been directly involved in 27 goals in those matches, scoring 13 goals himself. Olmo was immediately able to adjust to the pace of a top league in Europe and was quickly a regular in Julian Nagelsmann’s team.
Our playmaker scored his first brace in the Bundesliga in just his ninth game at TSG Hoffenheim in June 2020. His highlight from his time in Germany remains defeating Atletico Madrid in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League in August 2020. Olmo put RBL ahead with a header in Lisbon: “That was one of the best nights of my life with a great team in unique circumstances.”
Involved in most goals last season
2020/21 was another successful one for Olmo and the team. We reached the last 16 in the Champions League, before going out to Liverpool, whilst we made the DFB-Pokal final in Berlin, though Olmo couldn’t prevent defeat against Borussia Dortmund despite scoring. Olmo ended the Bundesliga season with five goals and nine assists (most goal involvements of any RBL player last season), helping us to finish second in the top flight for just the second time in our history.
Following 2020/21, Olmo then had a long summer on international duty with Spain. By summer 2021, Olmo had become a key player for the national team after previously captaining the U21s. He featured regularly at the delayed EURO 2020, providing two assists against Croatia to help Spain reach the quarterfinals and then scoring against eventual winners Italy in the semi-finals (Spain eventually lost on penalties). His summer wasn’t done yet though. Two weeks later, he was at the Olympics in Japan and went on to win a silver medal.
A new season
This action-packed summer certainly had an effect on Olmo. After missing pre-season, suffering two muscle injuries and contracting Covid-19, Dani has only played 159 minutes in the Bundesliga this season. Thankfully, his spell on the sidelines is over now. The 23-year-old scored on his return against Hansa Rostock in the DFB-Pokal last week and played more than 30 minutes against Wolfsburg at the weekend.
My performances can still improve.
“I expect him to enjoy playing and to use his quality to help the team – he’s already doing that well. You can see the quality he brings onto the pitch,” said head coach Domenico Tedesco about Olmo last week, adding: “The week after the Wolfsburg game will do him good as he will be able to work for a whole week with the rest of the team.”
Dani Olmo’s season is now properly underway. His potential – as he said in the summer – has not yet been fulfilled completely. “I want to work hard on myself every day and improve game by game. My performances can still improve, both for RB Leipzig and for Spain.” We can’t wait to see what’s next!