Man City have golden chance to rattle Chelsea by winning race for £35m bargain signing

You fear for Crystal Palace. Not in a grand, grim, holistic sense, but because at the time of writing, there is mounting speculation that both Manchester City and Chelsea are interested in prising Michael Olise away from them this summer.

Already the Eagles have lost Wilf Zaha to Galatasaray, and the prospect of also bidding a reluctant farewell to the French winger must have Roy Hodgson feeling like, well, that infamous Roy Hodgson GIF. Once he’s picked his spirits up off the ground, you would imagine that his first order of business will be finding some kind of remote safehouse to hide Eberechi Eze away in until September 2nd.

But for now, back to Olise. It is, to be fair, understandable that some of the Premier League’s biggest boys are casting an eye over him at present. Last season, the 21-year-old registered 11 Premier League assists for Palace, and was notably one of their most consisently dangerous attacking forces. Nobody else in the Eagles’ squad recorded more key passes per 90 minutes, and he also ranked in the top three for both shots taken and successful dribbles completed. There is a reason why, according to the statisticians at Whoscored, only the aforementioned Eze earned a higher average match rating over the course of the campaign.

In subsequent weeks, it has been suggested that Chelsea are particularly keen on a potential deal for Olise, with RMC Sport previously reporting that the Blues had already tabled a bid of around £39 million for his services. (It is worth emphasising that there has been little in the way of concrete progress since that claim was made, although it is understood that the offer eclipsed the £35 million release clause that the Frenchman has written into his contract at Selhurst Park.)

To complexify matters further, however, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has piped up on social media to suggest that, firstly, Olise’s release clause is real, and secondly, City are also keeping tabs on his situation. In fact, Fab even goes as far as to claim that this is ‘one to follow in the next days/weeks.’

In a previous article on Olise, I argued that Palace should fight tooth and nail to keep hold of him this summer. I still believe that to be a wise idea. But equally, I think that both Chelsea and City should fight tooth and nail to sign him. When a player is as good as he is, the two are not mutually exclusive.

And of the pursuing duo, this feels like it could be a great deal for the defending champions. The reasons as to why are manifold and simple. For one, if that £35 million release clause is as legitimate as everybody seems to think it is, then Olise would represent an absolute bargain, especially in the hyper-inflated climate of the current market. For another, Pep Guardiola has a proven track record of hand-selecting players from Premier League also-rans and turning them into world class talents. Look no further than Jack Grealish, or Nathan Ake. Both fantastic assets before they joined City, both notably better now.

Then there is the novel gap in the Etihad dressing room that needs filling. Riyad Mahrez, a wonderful servant to the club over these past five years, has departed for the Saudi Pro League, and suddenly City could do with signing a new right winger. Michael Olise is a right winger. You do the maths.

Chelsea’s rival interest will, of course, be an obstacle - especially with the free-spending Todd Boehly at the negotiating table - but it is hard to see how a player of Olise’s current standing could resist the lure of an opportunity to play for the best side in Europe. Chelsea might be aspiring to get there, but City are already at the top of the mountain.

This then, feels like a smart move for the champions. Not only could they snap up one of the most precocious talents in the Premier League for a relative steal, but they could deliver a satisfying bloody nose to one of their traditional top six adversaries in the process.

Maybe Palace will dig their heels in, as is their right, and maybe Chelsea will go hell for leather with the chequebook, but if City really want this one, you would imagine that they can find a way of making it happen.