Dani Olmo’s agent reveals Barcelona star wants to retire at former club: ‘Hopes that will be the case’ | OneFootball

FC Barcelona midfielder Dani Olmo has been the subject of transfer speculation during the international break.

There has been talk of reported interest from Bayern Munich in bringing him back to the Bundesliga, with the Barcelona midfielder not currently an undisputed starter at the club.

However, there have been no contacts so far and the Spanish international remains committed to the Blaugrana.

Olmo’s retirement plans

Olmo’s agent, Andy Bara, has instead revealed some of the player’s long-term plans. The 27-year-old has a particularly strong connection with Croatia, where he developed his career at Dinamo Zagreb.

As such, he plans on retiring at the Croatian club and later on start his coaching career there, revealed Bara.

“He wants to finish his career at Dinamo and hopes that will be the case, even as a manager; he’d like to start his managerial career at Dinamo,” Bara said on the Inkubator podcast, as quoted by SPORT.

Bara also explained just how strong Olmo’s attachment to the club remains, saying: “Dani still walks around the house wearing a Dinamo shirt with the number 7 and his name on it, even now in Barcelona.”

Dani Olmo during his time at Dinamo Zagreb. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

“Other players approach him and they all know the story: when you mention Olmo, the first thing that springs to mind is Dinamo. He’s much more closely linked to Dinamo than those who ought to be, but aren’t,” he added.

Olmo’s support for Vukovar

Bara also revealed that Olmo has been making significant private donations to the city of Vukovar in Croatia, something that had not previously been widely known.

“Dani Olmo is very attached to Zagreb and Croatia. I’m now going to say something that people don’t know; I hope Dani doesn’t hold it against me because I know the Spanish media will publish it too,” Bara started.

“Ever since he left Dinamo, he has been donating 2 per cent of his gross annual salary to Vukovar.”

According to the agent, the donations began during Olmo’s time at RB Leipzig and have continued since his move to Barcelona.

“These are substantial sums because he earns a great deal of money, and this has been going on since he was at Leipzig and now at Barcelona. He doesn’t talk about it publicly, but I want to say it because he deserves it,” he added.

The agent also described his relationship with Olmo as being about much more than business. He recalled helping convince the player to move to Zagreb and spoke about the personal connection that developed between them.

‘With Dani, it’s not just about work. There may have been jobs where I’ve done better (financially speaking), but that’s nothing compared to the emotions I experienced with him right from the start,” he stated.

“From convincing him to come to Zagreb: I told him it was a beautiful and safe city, and that there was a club there and a man – Zdravko Mamic at the time – who would support him.”

Two Bayern offers rejected

Bara revealed that Olmo rejected Bayern Munich on two occasions. The first came while the midfielder was at Dinamo Zagreb.

Olmo has rejected Bayern Munich twice. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

“He turned down Bayern when he was at Dinamo, on my advice. I told him: ‘You need to take the next step,’ and that’s exactly what happened,” Bara said.

A second Bayern offer arrived when Olmo was playing for Leipzig. Barcelona and other clubs were also interested, but Olmo ultimately chose the Catalan side.

“Later, he received another offer from Bayern whilst playing for Leipzig, and there were also Barcelona and other clubs in the running. We chose Barcelona, which perhaps wasn’t the best option, but everything worked out well for him afterwards,” he stated.

He pointed to Olmo’s achievements with Spain as evidence of how his career has developed, including major international and domestic honours.

“He won the European Championship, the Nations League and the World Cup, and he’s one of the top ten players in the national team. His story is like a film, and I’m glad to be part of it,” Bara concluded.