transfer themes

10

Nick Bidwell highlights the most interesting

developments from the January window

1

ANOTHER UNUSUAL TWIST

IN DANI OLMO’S CAREER

That attacking midfielder Olmo chose

to leave Dinamo Zagreb for RB Leipzig

says a great deal about his level-

headed take on what is best for his career.

Having won his first full cap for Spain last

autumn and starred in the 2018 European

Under-21 Championship triumph, he had a

gaggle of top clubs tracking his every move for

the Croat champions, including Bayern Munich,

Borussia Dortmund, Juventus, Milan, Barcelona

• where he spent seven years in the La Masia
  academy – Atletico Madrid, Manchester City
  and Manchester United. Yet the 21-year-old
  chose to throw in his lot with Leipzig, having
  been impressed with their ambitious project
  and reputation for putting their faith in youth.
  In this particular equation, prestige and elite
  wages were only of fleeting consideration; more
  important were the practicalities of his next step
  as a professional: choice of domestic league,
  style of play there, amount of game time on offer
  and scope for self-improvement. In both the long
  and short-term, he took a precise plane: to crack
  the European big time and perform well enough
  in the Bundesliga to earn a spot in Spain’s Euro
  2020 squad.
  At a relatively early stage of the process he
  had decided it was Leipzig or nothing, converted
  to the cause by a meeting in Zagreb with RB

director of sport Markus Krosche and a phone

conversation with the German club’s coach,

Julian Nagelsmann. Even when Bayern Munich

attempted to hijack the deal, he had no intention

of changing his mind, declaring: “I’d made my

decision and given my word...I was and am

convinced that Leipzig is the best place for me.”

Bayern were thought to be willing to outbid

RB, but Dinamo Zagreb’s director of sport, Zoran

Mamic, told Croat daily Sportske Novosti that

Olmo did not want to play in either England

or Italy and insisted on signing for Leipzig.

Interestingly, no one seems to know exactly

how much RB will have to shell out for Olmo.

Leading German magazine Kicker has mentioned

a basic initial fee of €20million, plus further

unspecified add-ons, while Marca in Spain has

alluded to a €30m payment and another €5m

in bonuses. Sportske Novosti suggests that RB

paid €18.5m up front and could be forced to

hand over a further €16.5m in appearance and

achievement top-ups.

Not that RB will be complaining about the

outlay. In the face of stiff competition they have

one of Europe’s shiniest new stars who is a

maestro in any position in the attacking third.

January Window SPECIAL

FEATURE

Maestro...Dani Olmo

Loan...Alvaro Odriozola