Bayern Munich sign Michael Olise - Fourth most expensive signing in their history

Bayern Munich announced the signing of Michael Olise on Sunday evening. Chelsea and Manchester United were seriously interested in the French winger this summer but Bayern won the race for his services. It's understood that Bayern paid Crystal Palace €53 million to land Olise, which makes him their fourth most expensive transfer in history. New manager Vincent Kompany observed Olise at close quarters last season during his spell managing Burnley in the Premier League and he's secured one of the most coveted wingers in Europe.

Injuries plagued the France U21 international’s 2023/24 season, with the 22-year-old only able to start 14 Premier League games for the Eagles. However, when he was fit and available, few young wingers outshone Olise - not only do his statistics per 90 minutes have him up there with the best young wingers in Europe, but on the eye, few players excite more with the ball at their feet. Former Liverpool defender now turned pundit Jamie Carragher claimed that Olise “could play for any team in the Premier League”. But he will now be playing his football in Munich for one of Europe's most decorated clubs.

Michael Olise’s brilliant season when he was available for Crystal Palace

As touched upon already, staying fit was a real issue for Olise last season, and is perhaps the only reason that could have put off potential suitors this summer. Persistent hamstring issues saw the young winger unable to make the Premier League match-day squad on 19 occasions. Nevertheless, when he has been fit and firing, has been an almost constant threat. As can be seen in the graphic above, only Chelsea’s Cole Palmer had a higher goals per 90 minutes ratio among all wingers aged 22 or younger in Europe’s top five leagues to have played 1000+ minutes. Nine of Palmer's goals were also penalties.

If we compare Olise to all wingers in the Premier League last term it’s a similar story. As can be identified above, once again only Palmer (0.67) has a higher goals per 90 minutes ratio than Olise’s 0.63. The Crystal Palace man beats Leandro Trossard (0.58) Mohamed Salah (0.56), Phil Foden (0.54) and Bukayo Saka (0.46). It’s obviously over a smaller sample size than the others, but it should also be taken into account that Olise was doing it for a team far lower down the Premier League table than the other players at the top of that list. Olise currently represents France at U21 level, and is part of Thierry Henry's squad for this summer's Olympics in Paris.

Manager Oliver Glasner has done a fantastic job following his appointment in late February. The Austrian guided Palace to 24 points from 13 games, and took the club well out of the relegation equation. After Olise’s second goal against Man United he ran straight over to Glasner and embraced his manager. After the game Glasner revealed why, “We spoke after the Fulham game when he was under the shower, and he was a little bit disappointed because he had three or four shots and the shots were blocked or he hit straight at the keeper. I said, 'maybe try near-post and maybe then the goalkeepers are surprised,' and in this situation he shot near-post and scored." Glasner certainly brought out the best in Olise, and Kompany will now be hoping to do the same.

How will he fit in at Bayern Munich?

Chelsea thought they had struck a bargain last summer when they triggered Olise’s release clause of just €40.8m at that time. However, Olise agreed a new deal with the South London club which saw his release clause rise to around €60m this summer. Bayern Munich have now jumped at the chance to bring him to Germany. In terms of where he fits in at Bayern, a potential glaring issue is that himself and Leroy Sane both have the preferred position of right winger. However, Sané also has plenty of experience playing from the left wing, so we could perhaps see a front three of Sane on the left, Olise on the right and Kane through the middle.

Other attacking options on the wings include Serge Gnabry, Mathyl Tel and Kingsley Coman, but with Olise coming in we may expect one of that aforementioned trio to depart this summer. Coman has been linked with a return to PSG this summer and may be one of the more likely players to exit to allow space for Olise. The former Crystal Palace man will become the fifth most valuable Bayern player, only behind Jamal Musiala (€120m), Kane (€100m), Sané (€70m), and Matthijs de Ligt (€65m).