The Instant Impact of Dani Olmo on Barcelona's Games

After the EURO 2024 winner's euphoric spell in Spain's campaign, Laporta and Deco were impressed enough to pull the trigger and sign him for €55m. (+ €7m in variables)

Safe to say, Dani Olmo has started to fit in well with the rest of the Blaugrana squad. So much so that he could show some heroics and score the late 82' winner against Rayo Vallecano. That was a dream debut for Dani Olmo, being able to score a screamer for a winner coming from the bench.

The 26-year-old Spaniard didn't just stop there, in his second game against Real Valladolid, where at the end Barcelona scored a whopping 7 goals to nil, Dani Olmo was completely in the offence. His shots hit the woodwork twice, and he even provided Raphinha a brilliant through ball, which he was unfortunately unable to convert, and even scored Barcelona's 6th goal himself, which he deserved to for the performance he displayed. Coincidentally, this goal was also scored in the 82' minute. (This had also happened to ex-Barcelona striker Vitor Roque, who is now loaned to Real Betis, who scored his debut goal earlier this year during the 63' minute, and scored his second goal days later also during the 63' minute.)

It is really hard to see new players instantly impact their clubs. Let's take a look at Kylian Mbappé—it took him 4 games to finally score his debut goal, and a penalty. At the same time, seeing Dani score the winner during his debut, while also considering the fact that he was registered just days before the match, truly shows us how good of a player Dani Olmo is. It's refreshing to see a change in the types of players you see on the pitch, and Dani is like that. His mesmerizing skills effortlessly break the opposition's ankles, and his smooth passes set up opportunities for the Catalan offence to score.

One more reason for Dani Olmo's effective link with the squad can be because of the game time shared with his Spanish teammates: Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Fermin Lopez, and Ferran Torres, all of whom hold good position at the club. Yet, seeing him efficiently find other players in such a short span of time is something to applaud. Over time, his relationship with the squad will only increase, resulting in much better plays by the Blaugrana.

So far, these are Dani Olmo's statistics in the 24/25 La Liga season.

1. Highest Goals per 90 with 1.41
2. Highest xA per 90 with 0.80
3. Highest xG + xA per 90 with 1.54
4. Second highest FotMob rating with 8.47 (after Lamine Yamal's 8.52)
5. Second highest Shots per 90 with 6.3 (after Kylian Mbappes' 6.7)
6. Third highest Successful Dribbles per 90 with 4.2 (after Chidera Ejuke's 5.5 and Brahim Diaz's 4.8)

Dani Olmo is a really promising talent that Barcelona have acquired lately. This has to be the best signing after Alemany's Lewandowski, Raphinha, Kounde and Christensen. The impact this lad has on the squad is phenomenal, and we can definitely expect him to step up and score and assist goals for the Blaugrana.