The left wing is one of the various positions that FC Barcelona are looking to reinforce in the coming summer transfer window. For this position, Deco and the club are looking for a profile who can score goals from one-on-one situations.
One of the players who meets this criteria set by the club and who has been linked with the Catalan club for the last few months is the La Masia graduate, Dani Olmo, who is currently playing with the German club, RB Leipzig.
However, SPORT reports that Barcelona are no longer seeing his pursuit as viable, especially as they believe that the funds needed to sign him are not achievable for them.
Leipzig renewed Olmo a few months back, as they wanted to protect their star player from interest coming from the Premier League. The forward now has a release clause of €60 million in his contract, and the Germans are not open to negotiating a sum lower than this amount for his sale.
In fact, Leipzig are particularly not too keen to negotiate with Barcelona as they still remember the very tough talks they had to undertake with the Catalan club for Ilaix Moriba, who was ultimately sold to them for €18 million.
Similarly, Leipzig are currently giving very high wages to Olmo, who is by far the best-paid player in their squad. Thus, his salary can be another stumbling block in Barcelona’s pursuit of the forward, unless he agrees to tone them down a bit.
Several factors made Dani Olmo a preferred forward target for Barcelona and Xavi, including his experience of the club, his good relationship with some players already in the squad, and his footballing skills. However, the operation is still not viable mainly because of its economic aspect.
Things could have been different if Raphinha had agreed to leave Barcelona, as his departure would have provided the Catalans with a significant income. However, as the Brazilian wants to remain at the club, Olmo’s signing is currently frozen.
