Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger have previously applauded Chelsea’s “incredible” transfer.
Chelsea are close to signing Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise, who has some high-profile fans.
The Blues have triggered Olise’s £35 million release clause and are keen to add him to Mauricio Pochettino’s ever-expanding squad. Chelsea have also agreed to pay £53 million for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia, plus £5 million in add-ons, and are assembling a collection of excellent young players for Pochettino to work with.
Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger have previously applauded Chelsea’s “incredible” transfer.
Olise impressed with 11 Premier League assists for Palace last season and was also a target for Manchester City. But he now appears set to rejoin the club from which he was discharged as a teenager, provided he passes a physical and Palace’s apparent displeasure with Chelsea’s approach does not derail their plans.
The 21-year-old is now out of action due to a hamstring injury sustained while competing for France in the European Under-21 Championships. He is anticipated to remain out until the end of September, so he will not be an immediate option for Pochettino.
Chelsea will have an interesting player with a lot of promise on their hands whenever he recovers. Olise supplied 19 assists and six goals in 71 appearances after joining Palace for £8 million from Reading in July 2021, with his left foot a particular weapon cutting inside from the right wing.
Pep Guardiola was impressed by his performance in a 1-0 setback to eventual champions Manchester City in March. Guardiola paid appreciation to Olise and his teammates Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze after a late Erling Haaland penalty secured three points.
“They have weapons,” he said, according to Sky Sports. “Zaha, Olise, Eze, they are incredible strikers with incredible threat.” They maintain their cool. Excellent attackers.”
Olise’s spectacular footwork and crosses were impressive at times, but his record of two goals in 37 league outings last season was disappointing. Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has identified this as an area for improvement.
Wenger met Olise at a French Embassy function in October of last year and gave him some advice after conversing with him. He informed him in French, “(You) need to score more goals.”
It was a point raised by former Palace manager Patrick Vieira after Olise curled in a magnificent free-kick to gain his side a point in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United in January. “Yeah, he needs to score more goals, make more assists,” Vieira remarked.
“I’ll want him to be more involved in our open play, I’ll want him to be better defensively to work with the rest of the players around him, to help the team out of possession, so there’s still a lot of elements that he needs to work on to improve himself, but the quality is there,” says coach Mike Petrino.
“I believe his talent is there, and now it’s just a matter of how far he wants to go, which will be determined by his commitment in daily training – the sacrifice that he is willing to make to realize that potential.”
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