Three reasons Man United still pose Chelsea transfer threat despite Michael Olise ‘agreement’

Chelsea’s interest in Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise predates this summer transfer window.

The Blues were believed to have activated Olise’s release clause last summer but in a drastic turn of events, the Frenchman opted to remain at Selhurst Park and signed a new contract in the process. But, this is not thought to have put Chelsea’s decision-makers off and a report from Give Me Sport suggests that the 22-year-old has verbally agreed terms on a contract at Stamford Bridge.

Enzo Maresca and co. are now thought to be negotiating with Palace on the payment instalments required to activate Olise’s release clause. The issue for Chelsea is that they are still open to being pipped to the post on the Olise deal.

Manchester United are thought to be keen on a move for the winger and while their manager situation is not yet resolved, football.london believes there are three reasons why Chelsea should be wary of the threat the Sir Jim Ratcliffe-owned club poses. Firstly, there is the personal factor which could mean that Olise favours a switch to Old Trafford.

The Frenchman grew up supporting United and notably did not celebrate in the 2022/23 campaign when he scored a late free-kick against Erik ten Hag’s team. The opportunity to play for the club he has supported for his whole life could be too big a temptation for him to resist.

Secondly, United can offer Olise a better standard of European football next season in comparison to Chelsea. The Blues were on course to qualify for the Europa League but were prevented from entering the competition after United won the FA Cup.

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The prospect of playing in the second-tier European tournament may be a deciding factor if both deals presented to him are equal. Finally, the Reds are likely able to offer the winger the playing time he would hope for.

Chelsea’s squad has an abundance of attacking midfielders who could play across the positions which could be a challenge for Olise to break into. Meanwhile, United’s squad is a lot less stacked and you would imagine the forward would have a strong chance of uprooting the likes of Antony from the starting XI.

It is fair to say that Chelsea appears to be in a strong position in the race to sign Olise but they must be wary of United ousting them at the last moment. The sooner this deal is agreed in writing, the better.