Dani Olmo would like to set the record straight. "David Raum claimed he had blocked me D but I can categorically deny that," he says.
He and his RB Leipzig teammates, not just Raum but Benjamin Henrichs too, have been on the phone a bit the past few days. There's been no bet, but there has been a warning. "Look out!' 'Don't come to my wing!' - the usual," Spain's No 10 says. "People sometimes think it's a big deal, but it's normal."
With that, he flashes a smile he hasn't properly fixed since a training-ground elbow from Christoph Baumgartner knocked two teeth out, but says he will once the Euros are over.
Sometimes the danger from those Red Bull boys is real. Spain versus Germany in the quarter-final is a very big deal: a clásico, Olmo calls it. For him, there's something extra.
One of two Spain internationals playing in Germany, along with the Bayer Leverkusen left-back Álex Grimaldo, he may be more appreciated there than back home, where he has never played professionally. His partner, Laura, is German; he faces teammates and best mates; and then there's the coach who took him there in the first place, playing a big part in bringing him here, a key part of a unique career path.
Olmo joined Barcelona's La Masia at nine but shocked everyone by walking away to make his debut for Dinamo Zagreb at 16, winning five league titles. When he left Croatia, in 2020, Julian Nagelsmann was the first on the phone, explaining where he would fit and how he would develop at Leipzig. Bigger calls came from Milan and Hertha Berlin, Jürgen Klinsmann on the line-but Olmo had given his word.
Although he started on the bench - one day he knocked on the manager's door and asked what was going on the decision was good for him. He reached three consecutive German Cup finals, even if Nagelsmann had soon left. Now the coach who believed in him, nurtured him stands before him and a place in the semi-final.
This story is from the July 05, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the July 05, 2024 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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