Michael Olise – The Chelsea Academy Prodigy Flying High with The Eagles
The Premier League is a food chain at the end of the day. The clubs at the top feed off the clubs at the bottom.
When a club who are not a member of the Sky Sports “Big Six” have a player of great talent who shines on a regular basis, media talking heads like nothing better than to speculate about which “Big Six” club they will end up at, and generally one of the “Big Six” will swoop in and buy the player.
The Overindulgence of Top Clubs
Sometimes “Big Six” clubs will buy players, just to buy them. They don’t need to have an actual need for the player, sometimes a passing fancy will do. Greed rules all at the top. Overstuffed predators trying desperately to force one last morsel down their gullets.
There is no better example of this than Todd Boehly’s circus at Chelsea. Since Boehly’s arrival Chelsea have spent money with reckless abandon, signing players regardless of whether they have any need for them. It must be a dream come true for their recruitment staff, especially as Boehly has now purchased Strasbourg.
With a second club to stuff with talent, they can afford to keep spending with no real plan for any of the players. Who’s going to stop them? Boehly? Not likely.
Chelsea and Manchester City have both Michael Olise in their list. Understand there’s release clause into his contract — around £35m. 🚨🔵 #CFC #MCFC
Both clubs are waiting for clarity about his conditions as he picked up injury last month.
🎥 More: https://t.co/4fgTCvHpqD pic.twitter.com/A0Fr3VmL5g
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 23, 2023
Chelsea’s Surplus of Similar Talent
In January Chelsea signed Noni Madueke, a left-footed right-winger. This summer they have signed Kendry Paez and Angelo Gabriel, left-footed right-wingers. Over the weekend it was reported that they have contacted Ajax about Mohamed Kudus, a left-footed right-winger. That report was then followed by another which suggested they had made a bid for Michael Olise of Crystal Palace, a left-footed right-winger.
Should Chelsea sign Kudus and Olise, that would give them five players under the age of 23 on the books who play the same role and have overlapping profiles. How Chelsea plan to manage that is anyone’s guess, but it will have negative effects on the careers of at least a couple of them.
That’s not new for Chelsea, the Abramovich era was littered with talented players who had their careers ruined by joining Chelsea and ending up on an endless cycle of loans.
Michael Olise’s Career Choices
Michael Olise was in Chelsea’s academy between 2009 and 2016, leaving because he didn’t see a clear pathway for himself. He spurned multiple Premier League offers to go to Reading, believing they offered him the best path to senior football. When the time came to leave Reading, he picked Crystal Palace over clubs who offered bigger contracts but not the same guarantee of playing time.
Olise has, to date made smart decisions for his career. Hopefully, he makes another now. While Chelsea and the massive wages they will offer will be appealing, it’s quite clear that there is no clear plan for the future at the club. They are merely collecting talent and hoping to figure it out later.
The Wise Option for Olise
A player of the quality of Olise would likely back himself to succeed, even in a circus, but the smarter move for him would be to wait for a better offer. Perhaps Manchester City will come calling as they look for a Riyad Mahrez replacement. City would offer a much clearer future for Olise, and a much calmer environment than Todd Boehly’s three rings.
