Dani Olmo has a close relationship with Croatian football after spending his early career years there at Dinamo Zagreb, but he is actually Spanish.
In an interview for Sports world, Olmo has spoken about the offer he received from the Croatian Football Federation before the 2018 World Cup, which he had rejected in order to await his opportunity with Spain.
“I am Spanish and that’s how I’ve always felt. Croatia wanted to naturalize me for the 2018 World Cup.”
“Maybe they offered me more security, but I knew the opportunity would come from Spain.”
“When I saw them reach the final against France, I was very happy, but I never thought I could be there or maybe I made a mistake.”
“I was in the U21 age groups and my dream was to play for Spain, you can’t change that for a World Cup,” Olmo said.
Olmo also spoke about the decision he made when he was at ‘La Masia’ to leave Barcelona and move to Dinamo.
“When Dinamo came for me, I was going to make the transition from the cadets to the youth team. The normal thing for me was to follow this opportunity or go to England, but my dream was to play for Barcelona.”
“During that time, I didn’t feel that they would trust me in the future. Dinamo convinced me with a short project. I trained with professionals and I knew it was the best thing for me,” the Spaniard concluded.Telegraph/