Arsenal target is now joining Barcelona in £53.3m deal

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Arsenal have now missed out on a transfer target to Barcelona after the Spanish giants struck a multi-million pound agreement.

Barcelona – now managed by Hansi Flick – are no longer the juggernaut they used to be as Real Madrid dominate Spain instead, although that has not stopped the Catalans from beating Arsenal to a top talent.

So, who have Barcelona signed ahead of Arsenal? Let’s take a look…

Barcelona beat Arsenal to Dani Olmo

Fabrizio Romano has now revealed that Barcelona have agreed to sign Dani Olmo in a €62m (£53.3m) move from RB Leipzig.

The Spain international has agreed a six-year contract.

It comes after TBR Football exclusively revealed that Arsenal had held talks with Olmo after learning about his £50m release clause.

The Mirror also claimed that the Spaniard is a target for Mikel Arteta – or at least, was.

Romano states that Olmo himself wanted to join Barcelona, so regardless of whether Arsenal did match that £53.3m offer or not, the 26-year-old had seemingly made up his mind already.

The man from Terrassa – who spent time in Barcelona’s academy from 2007 to 2014 – scored eight goals and provided five assists in 25 appearances for RB Leipzig last season.

Olmo also played a huge role in Spain winning UEFA Euro 2024 this summer, scoring three goals while also assisting another two in six games.

Swings and roundabouts

While some Arsenal fans might feel saddened about missing out on Olmo, it is simply the nature of the transfer market.

Incidentally, Arsenal are actually about to beat Barcelona to one of Flick’s targets anyway.

Fresh after signing Riccardo Bologna from Bologna, Arsenal are now all set to announce the arrival of Mikel Merino from Real Sociedad later this week.

It was said that Barcelona pulled out of the race after learning that Merino only wanted to join Arsenal this summer.

Therefore, it is something of a transfer merry-go-round between Arsenal and Barcelona this summer, with both European giants sharing a Spaniard each, rather than one club landing both.

READ MORE: £33m player now suggests he has no desire whatsoever to join Arsenal this summer

Be sure to keep an eye out for further transfer developments this summer, as we expect Arsenal to carry out more business after signing Merino.