Crystal Palace could already have their next Olise in “exciting” academy gem
The youngster has been unreal for the academy teams since joining the club.
It would probably be fair to describe Crystal Palace’s season thus far as disappointing – to be diplomatic.
The Eagles did manage to come away from Goodison Park with a hard-fought point on Monday night, which will surely please new boss Oliver Glasner, but with just six wins from their 25 Premier League games this season, they could still be in trouble.
What makes their position even more treacherous, however, is the growing number of injuries the team has had to contend with this season, as key players like Eberechi Eze, Marc Guehi and Michael Olise are all out at the moment, with the latter set to remain so for some time.
That said, if the Frenchman is set to miss out on a large portion of the season, Palace might already have the perfect solution in their ranks in a 19-year-old winger who has been tearing it up with the youth sides this year.
Michael Olise’s Crystal Palace record
The tremendously exciting winger joined Palace in July 2021 for a fee of just £8m, and while he was a relative unknown to the wider footballing world, he has to be considered one of the best bang-for-buck signings in recent history.
While the “brilliant” Olise, as described by talent scout Jacek Kulig, didn’t make it into the first team squad for the first three Premier League games of the 2021/22 season for the Eagles, he did come off the bench to make his debut in the fourth game, against Tottenham Hotspur on 11 September.
The “simply superb” gem, as described by Kulig, scored his first goal for the club just a few weeks later, as the south Londoners drew 2-2 at home to Leicester City. From then on, he was a regular, making 31 appearances in all competitions across the season, scoring four goals and providing eight assists.
The following season, he scored two goals – including that stunning free-kick against Manchester United – and registered 11 assists in 40 appearances.
