Dani Olmo has the chance to lift his first major trophy with the Spanish national team in Sunday’s final against England, and he could have been doing so as an AC Milan player.
Calciomercato.com provide some background on Olmo ahead of the showpiece game in Berlin. Back in July 2014, after having been at La Masia (Barcelona’s famous academy) since he was nine years old, he courageously decided to move to Dinamo Zagreb in search of playing time to aid his development.
His choice has paid off, becoming a starter at the age of 16. He began to draw the eyes of many top clubs and his desire to remain a key player at whatever team he went to next led him to accept RB Leipzig over many other clubs, including Milan where his compatriot Zvonimir Boban was working.
Tuttosport reported that in 2020 that Elliott Management in fact decided that the commissions requested by the player’s entourage (€7m), the transfer fee and bonuses would have far exceeded the €20m put on the table by Milan.
Juanma Lopez – Olmo’s agent – spoke to Di Marzio a few months after the aforementioned report and confirmed that the Rossoneri made a concrete attempt to buy his client.
“How close was he to Milan? Very. Boban liked him a lot, he tried for weeks, we even met in Milan, I was in the company of his dad and Andy Bara. But in the end he chose the player he preferred to continue his growth path in the Bundesliga,” he said (via MilanLive).
After getting an assist against Albania in the group stage, Olmo got a goal against Georgia in the round of 16, a goal and an assist against Germany in the quarter-finals and then another goal against France in the semis.
At 26 years of age there is a chance that the attacking midfielder might move on, especially given that he has a €60m release clause. Chelsea are strong contenders, Liverpool and Manchester City have expressed interest without going further, and a return to Barcelona cannot be ruled out.