Liverpool should sign ‘magic’ talent before Pep Guardiola does as $45m release clause revealed
Liverpool can correct a transfer mistake it made in 2021 by beating Chelsea and Manchester City to a Premier League star with an appealing release clause.
Back in the 2020/21 season, Liverpool youngster Harvey Elliott shone during his loan stint with Championship outfit Blackburn Rovers. In his first season of regular men’s football, Elliott scored seven times and, more impressively still, set up 11 for Tony Mowbray’s side.
He performed so well, in fact, that by the time he returned to Liverpool for pre-season the following summer, he was part of Jürgen Klopp’s first-team plans.
Somehow, though, Elliott wasn’t the most impressive teenage talent in that second tier at that time. Instead, that honor fell to Reading’s Michael Olise, who matched his counterpart’s goal tally but managed one more assist, and was ultimately named the Championship’s Young Player of the Season.
Olise, who also made the PFA Team of the Year, attracted interest from Liverpool and a host of other top European clubs like Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Napoli and Monaco (via TeamTalk).
In the end, though, the Frenchman would sign for Crystal Palace instead, and he’s looked like a mighty coup for the Eagles ever since.
He’s only scored four times in his 63 Premier League appearances, but crucially, he’s set up a commendable 16 goals in that time. Last season, his tally of 11 assists ranked him joint-third in the league, bettered only by Mohamed Salah (12) and Kevin de Bruyne (16), and seventh in Europe’s big five leagues as a whole.
Olise also figured in the top 10 for expected assisted goals (8.7), which shows that he was creating high-quality chances and not just relying on abnormally good finishing.
He’s earned himself seven caps for France under-21s, making the squad for last month’s European Championships, and looks a safe bet to figure for the senior side in the not-too-distant future after establishing himself as one of the top young talents in the league
Indeed, Olise was named the Player’s Player of the Season at Selhurst Park, and that’s absolutely no surprise when you read glowing verdicts like this from teammate Joel Ward.
“Michael’s a special talent,” he said, via football.london. “The world’s his oyster and he’s just getting better and better from game to game, so I think he’s going to go onto new heights and set the bar. If he continues that way, he’s going to go on to special things.
“They [Olise and teammate Eberechi Eze] certainly make my life a little bit easier when I can just give them the ball, and they go and do their magic!”
Olise has been so impressive that Chelsea and Manchester City have both shortlisted him as a transfer target for this summer, spotting the opportunity for a huge bargain in light of the player’s $45m (£35m/€40m) release clause (via Fabrizio Romano).
French outlet RMC Sport has claimed that Chelsea has already made an offer worth more than that — $50m (£39m/€45m) — and that may be an attempt to edge Manchester City.
Is there a case for Liverpool re-entering the race and rivaling that offer? Well, it’s worth stressing that Olise would represent a very different kind of winger to Salah.
Yes, he’s a one-versus-one threat like the Egyptian, placing 10th in the league for successful take-ons last season (54), but he’s better described as a wide creator than a wide scorer.
That’s reflected in his tally of 242 attempted crosses in 2022/23, only beaten by Trent Alexander-Arnold (252) and Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier (195).
Olise would be labeled a long-term successor to Salah if he did arrive, and it’s a move that would see Liverpool evolve, shifting the goalscoring burden away from the winger and onto a handily-supplied number nine like Darwin Núñez.
One key point to stress here is that he wouldn’t be able to make an immediate impact, with manager Roy Hodgson ruling him out for the foreseeable future after he underwent an operation on a ‘serious’ hamstring injury (via Evening Standard).
