Michael Olise to Chelsea makes no sense but also perfect sense
It may create question marks, but Olise makes Chelsea a better team
In my last piece I dissected why the biggest obstacle to Chelsea’s progress this summer is Chelsea.
Chelsea are more guilty than most for splashing on players not worth the price they are marketed for, selling players too quickly or overlooking the talent they already have at their disposal.
Those criticisms all can remain valid; whilst also believing signing Michael Olise from Crystal Palace feels like an obvious move to make.
It makes no sense and all the sense in the world in one-go. Stick with me, this isn’t trying to be pseudo intellectual.
On a squad building front in one area, Chelsea already have an abundance of left-footed players who play from the right.
Cole Palmer, Noni Madueke, Omari Hutchinson, Kendry Paez – and expected to be confirmed – Estevao Willian. Oh also Angelo!
None of them are aged above 25, none of them are in the prime of their careers, or look like the finished article. Even if Cole Palmer is coming off an exceptional individual campaign, buying a batch of players this young naturally brings up concerns over pathways and substantial minutes.
It is hard not to see some form a bottleneck occurring, especially for anyone not named Cole Palmer.
Unless the club opt to cash-in on Omari Hutchinson after a successful loan with Ipswich Town, loan Angelo again or find a buyer for Madueke, the list of left-footed right wingers gets longer not shorter with the pursuit of Olise.
What does that signing mean for the 2025 arrivals of Paez and Estevao? Two South American talents bought with huge hype and expense considering their age. Those players would have moved with some form of assurance, or understanding that a realistic route into Chelsea’s first-team will be there for them.
This is why in one aspect, the deal makes very little sense. It is almost ignoring what you already have and what you have coming. It very likely risks some of those players getting quickly lost, stalled or needing to find new homes for regular game time.
To the average fan though, this probably does not matter. Winning is what matters. Having very good players who help you win more football matches more often is what matters. And for the Boehly-Clearlake “project” to justify its existence or any legitimacy, it needs to start producing results rather than fluffy media briefings.
Olise is, on talent, one of the best wide attackers in the Premier League. And when I refer to talent, I am not merely taking about mythical “ceilings” nor theoretical wonder about what he could be, the hype for him is justified by his impact despite not boasting a ton of minutes for Crystal Palace.
From only 19 appearances (14 starts) for Palace in the 2023/24 Premier League campaign, he still found the net 10 times in under 2,000 minutes.
For a Chelsea comparison, that is less starts and minutes to Mykhailo Mudryk who scored five less. For whatever you think about Mudryk, it at the very least illustrates how influential Olise was in not an abundance of time.
That lack of time can be linked to a hamstring injury suffered in early February, keeping him out until the beginning of April.
Recent injury might be the only red flag considering Chelsea’s severe issues in that department. Though with closer inspection, two hamstring issues have kept him out across the last two seasons, missing 21 games. Though if you compare that to Reece James who has missed 63 games in the same period, we are not talking about a player who has struggled to remain fit for more than weeks at a time.
Back to output, he has a higher Goals Per 90 (0.63) to Palmer (0.57), higher shots Per 90 (3.32) to Palmer (3.19) and assists Per 90 (0.31 to 0.27).
Looking at a Wyscout comparison to Palmer, Raheem Sterling, Mudryk and Madueke, he also rates highest for Successful Dribbles (65.63%).
Olise numbers from last season (@DataMB_)
But data is the icing on the cake for Olise’s talent. In truth, the eye-test does just as convincing a job.
He lures challenges in before quickly gliding past his opponent. He is comfortable receiving the ball in tight areas as well as moving centrally to receive the ball or running in-behind. He attracts opponents towards him because you cannot afford to sit off and allow him to curve a cross or take aim from distance.
It is also undeniable that a major selling point for Olise is being a bit of an attacking maverick and risk-taker in an age of automatons and positional play.
Part of Oliver Glasner’s good work to comfortably keep Palace up and end the season above Roberto De Zerbi’s Brighton, was appreciating the talent he has in not only Olise, but Eberechi Eze and setting up a framework that allowed both talents to express themselves.
Olise, with a higher calibre of player at Chelsea should be looked upon similarly by Enzo Maresca. Players like Olise and in similar fashion, Palmer, work best by their ability to work off instinct and judge moments by themselves.
Chelsea could get anyone to receive the ball out wide and tediously recycle it in an unimaginative way. If your system is designed to open up space for your wide players to go 1v1, then this where Olise excels, along with his quality to cross and open up space for teammates.
Although there might be some concern Olise’s area of maximum impact could blend problematically into where Palmer found a lot of joy for Mauricio Pochettino last term, it is easy to forget Palmer ended the campaign operating a lot more centrally than he started, and still was able to define games for Chelsea.
Above everything else, Olise is a Premier League proven, ready-made talent who is unlikely to require 12 months to adapt to a new league, or need a season to iron out the awkward rawness of his game.
Even if the eventual fee is above a reported £60m release clause, that money could prove some of the shrewdest Clearlake invest in their squad.
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