15 August 2023 , 22:50
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Chelsea are closing in on the signing of Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise – a player who has some high-profile admirers.
The Blues have activated Olise’s £35million release clause and are pushing hard to add him to Mauricio Pochettino’s ever-expanding squad. Chelsea have also agreed a fee of £53m, plus £5m in add-ons, to sign Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia, and are assembling a group of talented young players for Pochettino to work with.
Olise impressed by chipping in with 11 assists in the Premier League for Palace last season and was also of interest to Manchester City. But he now looks likely to re-join the club he was released from as a youngster, provided he passes a medical and Palace’s reported unhappiness with Chelsea’s approach doesn’t scupper their plans.
The 21-year-old is currently out of action with a hamstring injury picked up at the European Under-21 Championships, where he was playing for France. He is expected to be out until the end of the September, so will not be an option for Pochettino straight away.
When he does recover, Chelsea will have an entertaining player full of potential on their hands. After moving to Palace in an £8m move from Reading in July 2021, Olise contributed 19 assists and six goals in 71 games, with his left foot a particular weapon cutting inside from the right wing.
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His performance in a narrow 1-0 defeat by eventual champions Manchester City in March caught the eye of Pep Guardiola. After a late Erling Haaland penalty sealed three points, Guardiola paid tribute to Olise and his team-mates Wilfried Zaha and Eberechi Eze.
“They have weapons,” he told Sky Sports. “Zaha is there, Olise, Eze, they are incredible strikers and they have incredible threat. They have composure. Great attacking players.”
Michael Olise is set to have a medical with Chelsea (Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Michael Olise be a successful signing for Chelsea? Comment below.
As impressive as Olise’s dazzling footwork and crossing were at times, his tally of two goals in 37 league games last season was disappointing. That is where former Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has identified an area for improvement.
Wenger met Olise at an event at the French Embassy in October last year and, after chatting to the youngster, he offered some advice. Speaking in French, he told him “(You) need to score more goals.”
It was a point that former Palace manager Patrick Vieira spoke about in January after Olise curled in a stunning free-kick to earn his side a point in a 1-1 draw with Manchester United. “Yeah, he needs to score more goals, he needs to make more assists,” Vieira said.
“I will want him to be more involved in our open play, I will want him to be better defensively to work with the rest of the players around, 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.
“I think his talent is there and then now, it’s just about how high he wants to go and that will be dictated by his commitment in everyday training – the sacrifice that he is prepared to make to fulfil that potential.”