Man Utd and Chelsea in thug-of-war for Olise
Manchester United and Chelsea have entered into a thug-of-war to get Crystal Palace hit-man Micheal Olise
Michael Olise looked set to sign for Chelsea last summer, but what should’ve been a simple exercise in paying the young winger’s release clause at Crystal Palace (£35m), somehow devolved into accusations of bad behavior on our part, perhaps even a bit of tapping up — though Palace never referred their complaints to higher powers, so perhaps they were just posturing.
In any case, the former Chelsea prospect (whose younger brother, Richard is still at Cobham) ended up signing a new contract with Palace instead, putting pen to paper on a new four-year deal. While no one really expects the 22-year-old to see out the full terms of that agreement, it did nearly double his release clause, to a reported £60m.
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But as we saw with Palace’s blistering end-of-season form — 19 points from 21, with 26(!) goals scored in those 7 games — Olise can still fully justify the higher release clause. He finished the season with 10 goals and 6 assists in just 19 appearances (all in the league). That’s Cole Palmer pace! (Incidentally, Palmer was signed in the wake of that collapsed deal last summer, so it worked out pretty okay.) Olise spent a good part of the season dealing with a hamstring injury, which does raise some concerns, but otherwise, he’s a wonderful talent and would be a starter already for any team in the league.
So it’s no surprise that some of those teams are eyeing him once again, and according to reports, that includes us as well. Again.
Whether we actually do anything will probably depend on our financial situation. We surely have to sell before buying — and sell at the position, not just in midfield or defense — not to mention jettison some of the big contracts still weighing down the books (like Romelu Lukaku or Kepa Arrizabalaga). Or perhaps we’ll just field nine right wingers and Moisés Caicedo and hope for the best.