Dani Olmo Attracting Surprise Transfer Interest—Report

The Spain international has already worked his way back to Barcelona once.

Barcelona may have a big Dani Olmo decision to make this summer. | Gongora/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Barcelona playmaker Dani Olmo has reportedly caught the eye of Saudi Pro League club Al Qadsiah, but the Spaniard isn’t thinking about leaving his boyhood team (again) anytime soon.

Olmo’s soccer career came full circle when he returned to Barça in the summer of 2024, having been schooled at the club’s famed La Masia, before branching out, aged 16, to Croatia and Dinamo Zagreb.

Olmo was one of many who later successfully used Bundesliga team RB Leipzig as a stepping stone up to one of Europe’s elite clubs, as Barcelona came calling at the start of Hansi Flick’s reign. Despite financial difficulties, the Blaugrana scooped up their former academy starlet for $69.1 million (€60 million), and Olmo has been a productive performer when fit during his time at the club so far.

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Olmo Has No Interest In Leaving Barcelona

Olmo is enjoying life at his boyhood club. | Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

While Al Qadsiah are not controlled by the country’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) that owns the four leading clubs in the league—Al Nassr, Al Hilal, Al Ittihad, Al Ahli—they were taken over by Saudi Aramco in June 2023 and are thus still state-owned.

Their riches have so far attracted the likes of Nacho Fernández, Otâvio and Mateo Retegui, the latter costing $74.9 million (€65 million) from Atalanta last summer after the striker had been Serie A top scorer during the 2024–25 campaign.

Al Qadsiah’s recent splurges helped them compete towards the top of the SPL this season, currently sitting fourth, and now they’re hoping to attract their biggest name yet.

MARCA writes that the Saudi side want to sign Barcelona’s Olmo, with scouts flying to Catalonia to see the creative midfielder in action. As it stands, though, no formal offer has been made to either Barça or Olmo’s representatives, and it’s believed that the player is not interested in switching clubs.

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Should Barcelona Consider Olmo Sale?

Barça are supposedly in the market fro Julian Álvarez this summer. | Maria Gracia Jimenez/Soccrates/Getty Images

Olmo shot out of the blocks at the start of the 2024–25 season, seemingly keen to make up for lost time. However, his Barcelona career has since struggled to get going as a result of multiple injuries.

Flick now prefers Fermín López in the No. 10 position, and Barça have recently welcomed Gavi back from another long-term injury. So, the cash-strapped club should believe they’re in a comfortable enough position to part ways with Olmo if Al Qadsiah come in with an offer that is too good to refuse.

Barcelona’s perpetually precarious financial situation means they’d be foolish to overlook a mammoth bid for a player who’s influence has undeniably dwindled over the past 12 months. López is far more productive and opportunistic in the final third than Olmo, who can flatter to deceive and is guilty of drifting out of matches despite his obvious talent.

Barcelona, of course, can’t push the 27-year-old out if he doesn’t want to go, but his mind could change when the Saudi club put an eye-watering salary on the table to tempt him to the Middle East.

If the La Liga champions are to reinvent their defense, as well as pursue the likes of Bernardo Silva and Julian Álvarez this summer, selling Olmo may be necessary.

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