'Done' - £50.7m transfer decision explained after Manchester United talks & five-year deal agreed

Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise has opted for a move away from the Premier League despite interest from a number of clubs, with the 22-year-old bound for the Allianz Arena to join Bayern Munich.

Manchester United, 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 week.

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano reported back in May that United had held talks with Olise’s representatives over a move to Old Trafford and that they were very keen to sign the winger, who enjoyed his best goal-scoring season in the Premier League last term as he found the net 10 times in 19 appearances.

However, the Premier League sides who had expressed an interest are set to miss out as Olise prepares to sign a deal with Bayern running until the summer of 2029. 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.

According to The Telegraph, via the Shields Gazette, 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 the player and were locked in discussions with Palace over paying his release clause. Although, it is unclear how concrete those agreements were.

Prior to last term, Olise had played 63 times in the Premier League with just four goals to his name. The winger came in for high praise from Palace boss Oliver Glasner in May as he scored four goals and provided three assists in his final six games, including a double against United at Selhurst Park.

Glasner said: “I think everybody knows he’s a good player. He’s fit now, I also think we found a very good position for him and he has a lot of individual qualities. He is a brilliant player, a great guy, but he also benefits from other players.”

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.