Chelsea and Manchester United appeared to be leading the race for Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise this summer.
However, Football Transfers have since reported that Arne Slot’s Liverpool have now joined the race.
Interestingly, this has yet to be corroborated by CaughtOffside columnist Fabrizio Romano. The Italian journalist reported on X (formerly Twitter) that the Blues are ‘confident’ ahead of pushing for an agreement on personal terms.
The Eagles are hoping to improve on a deal currently keeping Olise at Selhurst Park until the summer of 2027.
This follows an impressive (albeit injury-ridden) campaign in which the Frenchman registered 16 goal contributions in 19 games.
Football Transfers have proven to be rather reliable on various points, so it’s perhaps not one story to take with the finest pinch of salt just yet.
That said, it does seem like we have a lot of groundwork to make up if we are to have any hope of beating out rival interest in the Crystal Palace wide man.
Olise would tick a big box for our recruitment team in more ways than one. He’s 22 years of age, ranks high for non-penalty xG (85th percentile, according to FBref) and xAG (99th percentile) and could be a potentially suitable long-term successor for Mo Salah.
There is, however, the London-born footballer’s recent injury record which does present some concern. The winger missed 18 league games in 2023/24, though this looks isolated to the prior campaign.
