Chelsea dealt potential Olise blow as Palace ‘clause’ claim gives advantage to rivals for £60m transfer
Chelsea have reportedly been dealt a blow as Crystal Palace are said to have made a claim about the supposed release clause in Michael Olise’s contract.
Chelsea targeted the Frenchman during last summer’s transfer window. A deal looked likely to be completed at one stage, but the winger stuck with Crystal Palace and penned a new contract.
Olise to Chelsea or someone else?
Interest in Olise from rival clubs has not gone away, though. He was seriously hampered by injury during the 2023/24 campaign, but he finished the season superbly and grabbed ten goals and six assists in 19 Premier League appearances.
Olise’s end-of-season form has alerted the attention of clubs around Europe and it is being widely reported that there is a £60m release clause in his deal.
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano confirms Olise “remains a top target” for Chelsea, who also have their eyes on two strikers.
“Chelsea’s top target remains Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise as they try to agree personal terms with the player before then finding a solution with the club on his clause,” Romano said.
“The priority for now is the player side, so they are working to make it happen, but another top target for the club this summer is a central striker.
“Chelsea have two options after missing out on Benjamin Sesko, who was a top target for them but also for Arsenal and Manchester United before deciding to stay at RB Leipzig.
Let’s see if other names come into the equation for Chelsea, but for now, the two targets are Jhon Duran of Aston Villa and Samu Omorodion from Atletico Madrid.”
MORE CHELSEA COVERAGE ON F365…
👉 £34m Chelsea bid rejected for La Liga star as Blues have response planned for new Gallagher offer
👉 Chelsea: £40m Aston Villa star decides on transfer as Emery learns Blues star will ‘reject move’
👉 Ranking Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s transfer options from least suitable to Liverpool
Man Utd, Newcastle United and Bayern Munich are among the clubs challenging Chelsea in the race to sign Olise.
Journalist Matt Law claims figures at Palace have indicated that Olise’s clause “might only be applicable to Champions League clubs”.
If this were to be true, Bayern Munich would be the only of the four clubs mentioned above able to activate Olise’s release clause. However, Chelsea doubts this is the case.
“If you speak to people at the Palace end you get told quite a lot about a supposed buy-out clause, maybe as much as £60m,” Law said.
“And it has been mentioned that it might only be applicable to Champions League clubs. We speak to people at the Chelsea and they’re very definite that it’s not applicable to only Champions League clubs, and that there might not even be an actual clause.
“So I’m very, very wary of clause talk, but there seems to be a deal that can be done for him. Like I say, those three clubs [Chelsea, Newcastle and Bayern Munich] have got permission to speak to him.”
READ NEXT: Ranking Michael Olise’s nine summer options: Arsenal 8th, Man Utd 7th, Crystal Palace 2nd