Olise had spells in the academies of Chelsea and Manchester City as a teenager. He then moved to Reading for whom he made his senior debut and shone in the Championship, catching the eye of Palace who paid a bargain £8m in the summer of 2022.
But it was after his departure from Chelsea aged 14 that Olise caught the eye of several adults in a seven-a-side game of football. The Hammersmith-born talent had taken part in a showcase match featuring other players who had left academies.
“It was an opportunity for Michael and other ex-academy players to showcase themselves in front of scouts,” Sean Conlon, CEO of We Make Footballers, told First Time Finish in 2021.
Conlon continued: “I invited him to play in my adult seven-a-side team. It wasn’t the best standard, but there were still twenty-eight-year-old men, semi-pros playing.
“Michael was fourteen and was the best player on the pitch. No one could believe how young he was. The space he would find, the way he would move players around. He was incredible.
“He has always played with his brain. Not looking to compete physically, but using his mind to play.”
Olise has a release clause in the improved contract awarded to him by Palace in the summer, which the player opted to sign instead of joining Chelsea. United, who have also been linked with Palace’s sporting director Dougie Freedman, reportedly want to trigger the clause in the summer, the Evening Standard reports.
