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Sam Marsden
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Moises Llorens
Sep 8, 2024, 07:07 AM ET
Spain forward Dani Olmo will miss Sunday’s UEFA Nations League game against Switzerland and return to Barcelona early with a minor knee problem.
Olmo, 26, came off in the 82nd minute of the European champions’ goalless draw against Serbia in Belgrade on Thursday.
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Sources insist the injury is not serious, but it has been decided that the best course of action is for him to sit out the Switzerland match and return to his club.
Barça, who have won all four of their LaLiga games so far this season, return to league action at Girona next Sunday and coach Hansi Flick will hope to have Olmo available.
Olmo joined Barça this summer from RB Leipzig for €55 million ($61m) but missed the first two games of the campaign because he was not registered due to the club’s problems complying with LaLiga’s financial fair play rules.
He was eventually registered and made his debut in the 2-1 win at Rayo Vallecano, scoring the winning goal, and was again on target in the 7-0 victory over Real Valladolid before the international break.
Barça are short in midfield, where Olmo has been used by Flick, with Gavi, Frenkie de Jong and Marc Bernal all injured, while Oriol Romeu and Ilkay Gündogan both left the club in the transfer window.
De Jong could return in the coming weeks, while Gavi is in the final stages of his recovery from an ACL injury that’s sidelined him for almost a year, but Bernal is expected to miss the rest of the season.
Flick is also dealing with injury issues at the back, with centre-backs Ronald Araújo and Andreas Christensen both out for the foreseeable future.
Further forward, Ansu Fati is expected to be available after the international break and will add further depth in attack after returning from a season-long loan at Premier League side Brighton.
