FC Barcelona has confirmed a huge injury blow which could severely impact team planning for its upcoming Champions League and La Liga fixtures.
Dani Olmo has been a revelation since rejoining the boyhood club he once represented in La Masia ahead of deciding to turn professional in Croatia.
This summer, he completed a transfer from RB Leipzig worth more than $60 million in fixed money and variables.
And while the 26-year-old had to wait sometime to make his debut thanks to registration issues, he has been mightily impressive across three appearances in 2024/2025.
Coming off the bench and changing the game at Rayo Vallecano when the Blaugrana was losing 1-0, while also scoring the winner in a 2-1 comeback, he also netted in the 7-0 drubbing of Real Valladolid at the Montjuic Stadium ahead of the international break.
Olmo’s best goal yet in a Barca shirt came in the Catalan derby at Girona on Sunday. Barely two minutes after the interval, the Euro 2024 champion with Spain smashed a volley past Paulo Gazzaniga from the tightest of angles to make it 3-0 in an eventual 4-1 romp that left Hansi Flick’s men four points clear of bitter rivals Real Madrid at the top of the table.
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Sadly for all concerned, however, Olmo’s afternoon was finished less than a quarter of an hour later when he pulled up and had to be replaced by Eric Garcia.
Post-match, Flick confirmed that his attacking midfielder had suffered a knock with SPORT reporting that the first scans carried out in the locker room in Montilivi point to a hamstring injury.
On Monday, the same newspaper explained that test later carried out at the Joan Gamper CT showed that the niggle is more serious than initially believed, with the club now confirming that Olmo will be sidelined for “approximately four to five weeks”.
“Dani Olmo has suffered an injury to the femoral biceps of his right thigh,” a short statement on the matter read, followed by the mentioned absence timeframe.
Providing Olmo is indeed out of action for over a month, he will most certainly miss Barca’s Champions League debut against AS Monaco on Thursday in addition to La Liga matches against Villarreal, Getafe, Osasuna and Alaves.
There is another UCL home meeting with Young Boys wedged between that lot on October 1, and Barca would probably be without Olmo for Sevilla on October 20 and Bayern Munich on the continent three days later.
With all this in mind, Olmo might be ready to take to the field again for a meeting with Madrid in El Clasico on the 27th.
