Hello all, welcome back to the blog. It felt like just yesterday that we were seeing an incredible run from a Spanish team, one which saw them win the Euros, fronted in attack by a trio of Nico Williams, Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal, a front three that got past Germany, France, and England. A front three that it seemed nothing could stop. A front three which was admired by every club in Europe. Now, it appears that Joan Laporta wants to do more than just admire it. He wants to have it.
When the 23/24 season ended, it was clear that FC Barcelona needed something. They were a good team, nearly making it to the Champions League semifinals, but still needed something extra in order to compete for Europe’s premier competition again. However, before the start of the Euros, it was still unknown in what form that extra something came in. Fortunately, Barcelona wouldn’t need long to find that form.
Watching on from his office at Barca HQ, Joan Laporta watched on as Spain won all 7 games, 6 of which inside 90 minutes, with Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, and Lamine Yamal stealing the show and the headlines. Looking at this, Laporta knew that his current attacking core was good, sure, but nothing like this. Also knowing that new manager Hansi Flick would play formation that would accommodate this trio, except with Lewandowski up top rather than an impotent Alvaro Morata.
With that, we’re at today. Barcelona are now targeting both Nico Williams and Dani Olmo, above all other targets, including a Mikel Merino DM bid and an attempt to bring back Joao Cancelo. If this happens, it may just be one of the best transfer windows in FC Barcelona’s recent history. But why? How can Barca make it happen? How would they fit in? Let’s see.
First, let’s talk about Nico Williams. He’s been incredible in the past year, looking like the winger that Barca truly need. While Yamal, on paper, replaced Ousmane Dembele pretty well after his departure, Barca still doesn’t have a winger like him, with the explosive speed and great production that Dembele had. Williams has that, being one of the fastest wingers in the world and his 11 La Liga assists matching that of Ousmane Dembele’s second most productive season in his career so far. Williams can be the Dembele replacement, but hopefully not as injury prone.
Next, Dani Olmo. Barcelona lost him in 2014, when Olmo was 16 years old, when he thought he wasn’t going to break through into the first team. He strived elsewhere after his departure, and has been linked with moves for a long time now. However, that Euros performance may have finally got him the final boost for a move that he needs. His stats are unique, looking like a kind of Jude Bellingham-Raphinha mix.
For Barcelona to sign both Williams and Olmo, it wouldn’t be cheap. On first looks, a fee of around 110 million looks like the required amount for the Blaugrana to cough up for the two, with a 50m release clause for Williams that Bilbao won’t be budging on and an asking price of about 60m for Olmo by Leipzig. Obviously, Barca would have to make sales in order for that to happen, but who would have to go?
Let’s start by looking at some of the players who the two would replace. Raphinha is a player who, with some star performances against PSG, would seemingly get a high fee, likely more than the 58 million Barca paid for him in 2022. Also, for a player of his quality, being on the bench most weeks just wouldn’t be for him. I can see at least a 70 million euro sale.
If Raphinha leaving isn’t your speed though, there are 3 other attackers who could leave to fund these signings. Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati, and Vitor Roque. We could easily see Barca get 30m for any of them, but I wouldn’t want to see Fati or Roque go. I want to see if they can turn their careers around under Flick.
To summarize, if Barcelona can sign Nico Williams and Dani Olmo this summer, it would be an incredible coup and could make Barca Champions League contenders again. Laporta may have pulled off a masterclass of a summer. Compared with luck when it comes to injuries, and Barca’s young players being a year better and more mature, that may have just been the something they need. We’ll see. For now though, I’m Jim James, until next time.