Bayern Munich sign French sensation Michael Olise from Crystal Palace
Bayern Munich have beaten off competition from some of Europe's top clubs to capture 22-year-old French winger Michael Olise from English Premier League outfit Crystal Palace.
Olise signs a four-year contract at the Allianz Arena and becomes new coach Vincent Kompany's second signing at the club following the arrival of Hiroki Ito.
Born in London to to a Nigerian father and French-Algerian mother, Olise spent time in the academies of Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City before making his senior breakthrough at Reading and then Palace.
Bayern's new man racked up 82 English top-flight appearances in South London and scored 10 times in just 19 league games last season as Palace ended the year as one of Europe's most in-form sides under former Eintracht Frankfurt boss Oliver Glasner.
Olise has featured for France at U18 and U21 level but is yet to earn a full senior cap for his country. He is, though, expected to take part in the 2024 Olympic Games for France on home soil in Paris after being named in Thierry Henry's preliminary squad.
"The talks with FC Bayern were very positive, and I’m very happy to now be playing for such a big club," said Olise. "It's a great challenge, and that's exactly what I was looking for. I want to prove myself at this level and play my part in ensuring that we win as many titles as possible with our team in the coming years.
“Michael Olise is a player who can make the difference and attracted great interest with his style of play," added sporting director Max Eberl. "We want new impetus in our team, new energy, new ideas – that’s what players like Michael Olise stand for. During the talks, he quickly signalled that he really wanted to join FC Bayern. We’re very much looking forward to him. He will enrich our game.”
Olise will report for duty with his new team on 15 July before heading to pre-season camps in Tegernsee (22 to 25 July) and South Korea (31 July to 5 August).
He could make his senior debut for the club in the DFB Cup when Bayern play Ulm in the first round between 16-19 August. The Bundesliga season begins the following week, with the fixture list released on 4 July.
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