KEY POINTS

  • Manchester United is being linked to a move for RB Leipzig's Dani Olmo
  • Olmo had earlier hinted at a return to his youth club Barcelona
  • The striker wasn't really a huge Lionel Messi fan

A former Barcelona striker is expected to be lured by Manchester United in the future.

A career-changing transfer window could be waiting for RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo as both his boyhood club Barcelona and English Premier League giant Manchester United are keeping tabs on him, Spanish outlet Marca reported.

The forward is likely to be pursued by the aforementioned clubs “either in the winter market or next summer.”

However, the chase for Olmo could end up in a bidding war as Serie A side Juventus and Bundesliga’s Bayern Munich are also mentioned in the conversation, the report said.

As it stands, there’s a great chance that Olmo will be a fringe player in Manchester United with the club seemingly enjoying its stacked frontline led by the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo.

Olmo, meanwhile, had earlier hinted at his desire to make a sensational return to Barcelona.

“Barca will always have a special place in my heart,” Olmo said earlier this year. “It was a privilege to have played there. It is a point of reference for the rest of the football world and any child would give anything to play there, where so many greats have arrived and learned the trade.”

At the tender age of nine, Olmo joined Barcelona was honed by the club’s famed La Masia academy.

Unlike most Barcelona academy players, the Spaniard wasn’t a huge fan of the Catalans’ former talisman Lionel Messi.

"One time, before I even joined La Masia, I accompanied my father while he was managing a game at Castelldefels,” Olmo recalled. "I was eight years old. I was playing happily by myself with a ball, when someone—I think it was a friend of my dad’s—came over and told me, 'Hey, Dani, come here! You’re not going to believe this. You’re going to have your picture taken with Lionel Messi!'”

Lionel Messi said he will stay at Barcelona but only because the club's president Josep Maria Bartomeu broke his word to let him leave
Lionel Messi said he will stay at Barcelona but only because the club's president Josep Maria Bartomeu broke his word to let him leave AFP / GABRIEL BOUYS

"Apparently, Messi had a friend playing in the Castelldefels game and had come down to see him,” he continued. "Wow, Messi, right? In Castelldefels? What kid wouldn’t want their picture with him? Well, me! I was like, 'No, thanks. I’m good. I want to keep playing! It’s just a picture, right?'”

Olmo is currently playing his third season with RB Leipzig and has been a regular starter for the Bundesliga side.

He finished the previous season with an impressive tally of seven goals and 11 assists.

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