Background and career
Daniel Olmo Carvajal (born 7 May 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for La Liga club Barcelona and the Spain national team. He is known for his spatial awareness, quick scanning and tight-space dribbling. After a period at La Masia, Olmo made his professional debut for Dinamo Zagreb in Croatia in 2015. He made 124 total appearances for the club, scoring 34 goals and winning the league five times and the cup three times. In 2020, he joined RB Leipzig, where he won two DFB-Pokals in 2022 and 2023 as well as the 2023 DFL-Supercup, where he scored a hat-trick, before rejoining boyhood club Barcelona in 2024. Olmo won the 2019 UEFA European Championship with the Spain under-21 team, and a silver medal at the 2020 Olympic tournament. He made his senior international debut in 2019, and was part of the teams that reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2020, and won the 2023 UEFA Nations League. He was a key member of the Spain teams that won Euro 2024 (finishing as the tournament's joint-top scorer) and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Born in Terrassa, Barcelona, Catalonia, Olmo arrived in Barcelona's youth academy aged nine, from neighbours Espanyol.
In a surprise move orchestrated by Andy Bara, Olmo joined Dinamo Zagreb on 31 July 2014, aged 16. He made his first team debut against Lokomotiva Zagreb on 7 February 2015, as a 76th-minute substitute for Paulo Machado in a 2–1 home win. On 22 September, he scored his first goal in a 7–1 win at Oštrc Zlatar in the first round of the cup. On 22 August 2016, Olmo signed a new four-year contract. He scored three goals in four games as the team came runners-up in the cup, including one in the 3–1 loss to Rijeka in the final on 31 May; four days earlier he scored his first league goal in a 5–2 home win over the same team – already champions – on the final day. Olmo provided Izet Hajrović with an assist for the third goal and scored the fourth in the Europa League 4–1 victory over Fenerbahçe on 20 September 2018. On 17 December, Olmo was named the best player of the Prva HNL for 2018. In the same month, he finished 11th in Tuttosport's Golden Boy award, ahead of the likes of Kylian Mbappé and Josip Brekalo. On 14 February 2019, he scored the only goal in a Europa League round of 32 game against Viktoria Plzeň that ended in a 2–1 loss. On 3 June, he was named the best player and best young player of the 2018–19 Prva HNL season. On 18 September 2019, he made his Champions League debut in a 4–0 home win over Atalanta. He scored his first goal in the competition on 22 October in a 2–2 away draw with Shakhtar Donetsk. He scored the only Dinamo's goal in a 1–4 home defeat to Manchester City on 11 December, as Dinamo finished at the bottom of the group.
On 25 January 2020, Olmo moved to Bundesliga club RB Leipzig, signing a four-year contract. He made his debut a week later, in a 2–2 draw with Borussia Mönchengladbach, coming on for Tyler Adams in 69th minute. On 4 February he scored the only goal in a 3–1 DFB-Pokal defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, having come on for Amadou Haidara at half time. Olmo made his first start for Leipzig on 9 February 2020, in a game against Bayern Munich that ended as a goalless draw, coming off for Patrik Schick in the 69th minute. On 12 June, he scored both goals in a 2–0 victory over 1899 Hoffenheim. On 13 August, he scored the opening goal in a 2–1 victory over Atlético Madrid at the Estádio José Alvalade, as Leipzig progressed to the Champions League semi-final for the first time in the history of the club.
Olmo played four games in RB Leipzig's victory in the DFB-Pokal in 2021–22, scoring to conclude a 2–0 home win over Hansa Rostock in the last 16 on 19 January. He was a 69th-minute substitute for Kevin Kampl in the final on 21 May, and scored in the penalty shoot-out win after a 1–1 draw with SC Freiburg; with two minutes of extra time remaining, he was tackled in the penalty area by Nicolas Höfler and Kampl was sent off from the substitutes' bench for demanding a penalty kick. On 30 July, again on for Kampl, he scored a consolation goal in a 5–3 loss to Bayern Munich in the 2022 DFL-Supercup. On 12 August 2023, Olmo scored a hat-trick in the DFL-Supercup against Bayern Munich, providing the only goals scored in the match.
On 9 August 2024, Olmo returned to his youth career club Barcelona, signing a six-year contract in a deal reportedly worth in the region of €60 million. On 27 August 2024, after missing the games against Valencia and Athletic Bilbao as he was unable to be registered due to salary-cap issues, Olmo made his debut. He came off the bench to replace Ferran Torres against Rayo Vallecano in the second half and scored the winning goal in the 82nd minute, giving his club a 1–2 away win. On 3 November, after returning from injury, Olmo scored his fourth and fifth goals in five games for Barcelona in a 3–1 win against Espanyol. On 26 November, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal for Barcelona in a 3–0 victory over Brest. Due to Barcelona’s failure to register him and teammate Pau Víctor in time for 2025, Olmo had the option of becoming a free agent and could negotiate with any club. Subsequently, Consejo Superior de Deportes approved the registration of Olmo and Pau Víctor on 8 January 2025, meaning that both players could play for the club in La Liga, UEFA Champions League, Copa del Rey, and the eventual Supercopa de España final against Real Madrid.
