Manchester United have not given up hope on signing Crystal Palace star Michael Olise this summer, despite Bayern Munich remaining favourites to sign him.
The Red Devils, Chelsea, Newcastle United and Liverpool were among the clubs keen on the player. The Blues and the Magpies made approaches for the forward before Palace agreed a €60m (£50.7m) fee, including add-ons, with Bayern. Olise is set to sign a five-year deal despite being offered a high salary by Chelsea, who dropped out of the race to sign him last month.
Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Germany has provided an update on the transfer, as he claims Bayern are keen to get the deal over the line swiftly as the Red Devils are one of the clubs aiming to hijack the transfer at the 11th hour. Olise is still keen on a move to Bayern, and is happy to pen a deal until 2029.
The final details have yet to be agreed between the two clubs, which saw the medical pushed back to this week after it was initially planned to take place last week. However, United are waiting in the wings if there are any hiccups in the move as Erik ten Hag’s side remain eager to land the Palace winger. Olise enjoyed his best goal-scoring season in the Premier League last term as he found the net 10 times in 19 appearances – including a double against United in a 4-0 win for Palace at Selhurst Park at the start of May.
He almost joined Chelsea last summer as they activated a £35m release clause in his Palace contract but he opted against the move to remain at Selhurst Park. He went on to sign a new deal, running until 2027, and with a bigger release clause which was reported to be in the region of £60m.
It has been reported that Olise has opted to play for Bayern because they are in the Champions League with Manchester United, Newcastle United and Chelsea all missing out on a spot in Europe’s elite club competition. The Red Devils will play in the Europa League after beating Manchester City in the FA Cup final at Wembley, a result that demoted Chelsea to the Europa Conference League and saw the Magpies miss out on European football altogether.
Man City, Arsenal, Liverpool and Aston Villa will represent England in the Champions League next term. It was reported earlier this month Chelsea had verbally agreed personal terms with Olise and were locked in discussions with Palace over paying his release clause. Although, it is unclear how concrete those agreements were.
Olise, who hails from London, started his career in the Chelsea academy before moving to Manchester City to be part of their youth set-up. He signed for Reading in 2017 and made his debut for the Royals against Leeds United in March 2019. He scored seven goals and provided 14 assists in 73 games for Reading before signing for Palace in July 2021 for a fee in the region of £8m. His initial deal with Palace was set to run until 2026, as he penned a five-year contract back when he first joined the club.
He is not the only Crystal Palace star to be linked with a summer switch to Old Trafford, as winger Eberechi Eze is also a player reportedly on the club’s radar. The forward is currently on international duty with England at Euro 2024.
