MY ACCOUNT
Crystal Palace midfielder Michael Olise is one of the Premier League’s rising stars and has four international teams vying for his assistance.
The playmaker bagged a goal and assist as the Eagles soared into the FA Cup fifth round with a 2-0 win over Hartlepool.
LiveScore take a look at the talented prospect and what the future may have in store for him ahead of tonight’s clash against Norwich.
Making a splash against Pool
Olise helped Palace breeze past Hartlepool at the weekend, playing a crucial role in both goals.
The 20-year-old won a free-kick and whipped in the resulting set-piece for Marc Guehi to prod home and break the deadlock in the opening stages.
And he made it 2-0 after taking Conor Gallagher’s pass, cutting inside the area and finding the bottom corner to double his side’s advantage 22 minutes in.
New kid on the block
Olise joined Reading’s academy from Manchester City in 2016 and made his debut three years later in a 3-0 defeat to Leeds.
Things went up from there and the Royals ace was named the Championship Young Player of the Season and featured in the second tier’s best XI last term.
The Hammersmith-born winger, who scored seven times and provided 14 assists in 73 games for Reading, was snapped up by Palace over the summer on a five-year deal for what now looks a bargain £8million.
Not long after his debut, the playmaker scored his first Premier League goal in the second half of a 2–2 home draw against Leicester.
In doing so, he became the Eagles’ youngest Premier League scorer since Clinton Morrison in 1998 at 19 years old.
A world of options
Olise was born in London to a Nigerian father and French-Algerian mother, and is eligible to represent France, Algeria, England, or Nigeria internationally.
In 2019, he was called up by Les Bleus’ Under-18s for the Toulon Tournament and played twice as the hosts went out in the group stage.
The winger was later named as a standby for the Nigerian squad ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Benin and Lesotho in March 2021 but did not land a call-up.
Reports claimed in October that Olise was leaning towards representing Algeria, although there has been no official word. His younger brother Richard — a Chelsea academy ace — has featured for England at youth level.
Palace’s jewel in the crown
Olise’s displays have seen him pushing for a regular spot in the Palace team and two of his four league starts have come in their last two fixtures.
He has nine goal contributions (four goals, five assists) from 17 appearances in all competitions and boss Patrick Vieira has admitted it is becoming hard to leave the whizkid out.
After the FA Cup third-round win over Millwall, the Palace chief said: “All the players are impatient. They all want to play and this is what I like about Michael, about [Eberechi] Eze.
“They want to be on the field and want to play. Their job is to make it difficult for me and when you look at the way both of them played today, yes I will have a difficult decision to make in the next couple of weeks.”
Olise used to operate behind the striker but now features regularly on the right wing where he cuts in on to his favoured left foot and causes problems for defences.
He has a highly-regarded boss who is keen to develop young talent in Vieira and if he keeps on the same trajectory, the sky could be the limit for the Eagles starlet.
