In celebration of Michael Olise.
Michael Olise is absolutely tearing it up at the Olympics, and his impact in driving France to Friday’s final will be felt far and wide. There will be delight amongst those working in English grass-roots who helped Olise on his journey, those at Hayes and Yeading Youth who recall him being a joy to coach at six and seven and the We Make Footballer kids’ holiday camps who also provided coaching in his early years.
There will surely be murmurs of frustration at the academies of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City that his time with them didn’t work out, especially Chelsea where he spent seven years (his departure at 14 was mutual). There will be pride at Reading where they nurtured Olise, toughening him up in the Championship, before he moved to Crystal Palace for £8m after seven goals and 12 assists in 46 games.
EFL officials will nod knowingly at another player benefiting from the vital platform their clubs give, another reminder of the importance of the pyramid. There will be joy at Palace at his success, and memory of his 16 goals and 25 assists in 90 games for them, and another reminder of Dougie Freedman’s eye for a player. At Bayern Munich, executives will surely smile at their foresight in paying a reported £60m release fee (which also guarantees Reading a windfall).
Bayern’s centre-forward, Harry Kane, must have taken one look at Olise’s performance in France’s Olympic semi-final triumph over Egypt last night and looked forward even more to their link-ups next season. Kane might even have reflected on whether England and the Football Association should have pushed harder to get the Londoner to commit to England before Euro 2024.
The 22-year-old’s delivery in Lyons, whether driving through midfield or crossing from the right, brought goals for Jean-Philippe Mateta in just the type of positions where Kane has done his most destructive work: peeling off defenders, running on to a threaded pass, or poaching a header. Olise’s understanding with Mateta, forged at Palace, was very obvious and shows how he builds partnerships.