The Euro 2024 winner has scored three goals in three games for Barça but won’t be adding to his tally for a few weeks.
Barcelona could hardly have dreamt of a better start to the season under new head coach Hansi Flick, under whom they have won their opening five LaLiga games, already opening up a four-point lead over Real Madrid and Atlético. They will hope their superb domestic form translates to the Champions League, although they head into their Matchday 1 fixture away to Monaco without a number of first-team players, including summer signing Dani Olmo.
Olmo’s eventful start to Barcelona spell
The 26-year-old has endured a rollercoaster start to his time with Barça, who he joined from RB Leipzig for a reported fee of €60 million ($66.79 million) in August. He had previously been in La Masia in for seven years between the ages of nine and 16.
Because of the Catalans’ well documented financial issues, they were unable to initially register Olmo to play in LaLiga despite having officially signed him. As a result, the attacker missed the first two league victories against Valencia and Athletic Club.
A long-term injury suffered by Andreas Christensen eventually allowed Barcelona to register their new signing and he hit the ground running, scoring three times in three appearances, averaging a goal every 63 minutes so far.
However, around a quarter-of-an-hour after netting in Sunday’s win away to Girona, Olmo was forced off because of an injury to his right hamstring, with a club statement revealing he is expected to be out of action for four to five weeks.
Why aren’t Gavi, Ronald Araújo and Frenkie de Jong playing against Monaco?
Olmo is not the only Barça star unavailable to play against Monaco.
Young midfielder Gavi has resumed training after recovering from a torn ACL but isn’t quite ready to return to on-field action just yet. Frenkie de Jong is in a similar position having been sidelined for five months because of an ankle problem.
Like Olmo, Ronald Araújo is also dealing with a hamstring injury, although he would’ve been suspended for Thursday’s game anyway having been sent off on his last Champions League appearance against PSG in the 2023/24 quarter-final second leg.
Fermín López is likely to be absent for three weeks after suffering a thigh injury in training, although winger Ansu Fati has been deemed fit to travel to Monaco after a foot injury.