Report reveals how Chelsea f**ked Olise pursuit as Romano makes ‘another attacker’ transfer claim

David Ornstein says Crystal Palace did not respond to Chelsea’s offer for Michael Olise as it was not in line with the terms of the player’s release clause.

It was reported last week that Chelsea agreed a deal to sign Olise from their London rivals when they triggered the £35million release clause in his contract.

However, out of the blue on Thursday afternoon, Crystal Palace owner Steve Parish revealed on social media that the French Under-21 winger has committed his future to the club by signing a new four-year deal.

This shocked Premier League fans, who assumed Chelsea had identified another young talent and would offer them a massive contract to get them through the door with minimal fuss.

This was not the case and the Blues came out second-best in a transfer battle for the first time this summer.

Olise would have been their tenth signing of the summer transfer window and The Athletic journalists David Ornstein and Matt Woosnam have revealed why the deal did not materialise.

The report explains the negotiation process and how Chelsea f**ked things up by not knowing the exact terms of Olise’s reported £35m release clause.

Chelsea ‘believed they had triggered it’ but Palace did not as the clause ‘could not be triggered directly by another club’. Instead, it was actually the player’s responsibility to inform Steve Parish of ‘the interest and his intention to activate the clause’.

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‘In turn, Palace would need to tell Olise the total amount required — including additional payments — and he would relay that to Chelsea accordingly,’ the report explains. ‘In this case, the figure came to significantly more than £35million but this was the minimum net fee that Palace were guaranteed to receive.

‘Chelsea would then need to notify Palace of their readiness to pay up on behalf of Olise and the transaction could proceed. It is unknown whether this clause exists in Olise’s new contract.

‘Chelsea went straight to Palace when that should have been done by Olise. There was no reply from Palace because, as far as they were concerned, the process had not been followed as stipulated in Olise’s contract.’

It is added that Palace will not stand in Olise’s way if they believe he has a better project on the table but they insisted staying at Selhurst Park is the best thing for his career.

With the 21-year-old winger off the table, Chelsea are expected to turn their attention elsewhere.

According to Fabrizio Romano, Mauricio Pochettino does want ‘another attacking player’.

Since Todd Boehly bought the club last summer, the Blues have bought Noni Madueke, Raheem Sterling, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mykhaylo Mudryk, Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, and a bunch of youngsters not ready for first-team action like David Datro Fofana and Omari Hutchinson.

Another forward is still on the agenda and Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at West Ham United did show Chelsea’s lack of ruthlessness in the final third, so it is not too surprising.

What is surprising is the club’s reported interest in Arsenal striker Folarin Balogun, who is reportedly valued at £50m.

Romano says Juventus are hoping to seal a transfer that would send Dusan Vlahovic to Stamford Bridge and Romelu Lukaku to Turin, but Chelsea are not keen.

One player who is a target for the Blues is Lyon starlet Bradley Barcola with Paris Saint-Germain the ‘favourites’ for his signature.

Romano adds that Ajax’s Mohammed Kudus is not a target at this moment in time despite talks taking place earlier this summer.

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