At just seven years old, Michael Olise loved football. As is the case with a large chunk of children that age living in the UK, all they wanted to do was kick a ball around with their mates.
Olise was no different, but there was one day where he was not as fussed. As his family were gearing him up for a trial with Chelsea FC, a young Olise gave his loved ones an ultimatum: he would only go if he was allowed to wear his beloved Manchester United shirt.
So there he is: a seven-year-old Olise trialling for one of the country’s biggest clubs while wearing their rivals’ colours. As a child, Olise was rarely someone who adhered to the rules.
Olise was part of an England Under-15s camp around seven years later after catching the eye in Chelsea’s academy. However, Olise was thrown out of the camp for poor behaviour – and was desperate to get back in there somehow, but that never materialised. Olise later chose to represent France, detailing his “connection” with the country.
FOLLOW OUR CHELSEA FB PAGE! Latest Blues news, analysis and much more via our dedicated Facebook page
One source told football.london of a time where a well-respected Chelsea academy coach tried getting through to Olise only for the teenager to disobey him. Olise’s teammates were away from him doing some warm-up drills and the coach said something along the lines of: “Michael, come here or go back inside.” Olise, doing keepy-ups towards the halfway line, rather nonchalantly booted the ball in the air and headed inside himself.
The talent was obvious – that much is clear now if you watched Olise star in France’s 3-1 World Cup victory over Senegal on Tuesday evening – but there were serious question marks over his attitude. A source described the former Chelsea academy star as slightly difficult to control. The epitome of a maverick.
Yet, for seven years, Chelsea’s academy staff were prepared to let him misbehave a little because of the talent he possessed and the potential he consistently showed. Parents of his teammates were left, at times, a tad surprised at what Olise was allowed to get away with. It wasn’t anything sinister; it was more a kid playing up – we’ve all had those classmates at school.
One time at St. George’s Park, Olise somehow got access to his teammates’ keys to their rooms and played a prank on them. Olise poured water on their beds to leave them a nasty surprise when they walked back in. While a prankster, Olise was well liked by his teammates.
Chelsea were more lenient with Olise because of his footballing ability but the club’s academy decided enough was enough when he got to the age of 14. There were no signs of Olise’s behaviour changing and after a trial with Manchester City, he moved up to the north-west.
To describe his time in Manchester as a ‘spell’ would be the perfect description. A source told football.london it was only ‘three or four weeks’ before Olise was released by City’s academy due to misbehaviour. Some believe Olise’s behaviour during his spell in Manchester was simply him rebelling because he didn’t want to be in a school with kids he didn’t know while all of his friends were back down south.
A trial at Reading followed for Olise. On footballing ability alone, there was never any doubt Olise would pass the trial. In 2018, Olise was inducted into Reading’s academy scholarship program, before making his debut in March 2019. Olise started to mature during his time in Berkshire, though there were a few signs of the difficult-to-control youth in him.
An Instagram direct message was leaked online when Olise was chatting to a girl. In said message, Olise wrote: “I’m on bigger things, won’t catch me playing for a small Championship team for too long.”
While undoubtedly disrespectful to Reading, the club he spent four years with, Olise is anything but a liar. Not long after the leaked message, Crystal Palace splashed out £8million to Reading for Olise to play his football at Selhurst Park.
Palace were aware of the concerns over the question marks over Olise’s attitude – mostly stemming from his academy days – but the Eagles did their due diligence. Olise had knuckled down at this point and the results on the pitch showcased just that.
His rise at Palace saw Chelsea come in for the France international in June 2024. Those concerns about their former academy star’s attitude had vanished. The Blues contacted their London rivals to request permission to speak with Olise and his entourage but were eventually priced out of a move, with BlueCo not wanting to break their wage structure despite their keen interest in the winger.
Instead, he moved to Bayern Munich. Some were sceptical; not really about his talent but more to do with his injury record during his time at Palace. Either way, he has gone above and beyond what anyone would have expected. That is, of course, apart from Olise, who sources say has an unmatched level of confidence in his ability.
That self-assurance, the pranks, the misbehaviour, the maverick-type persona; these are all things that make Olise what he is today. The person he is today; the person everyone loves to laugh at when he delivers one of his famous one-line answers in a post-match interview. There is a charm about Olise’s charisma.
For Chelsea supporters, there is regret that he was released as a 14-year-old; and there is regret that the club did not match the financial demands two summers ago. From Olise’s point of view, though, a move away from the Blues turned out to be a positive thing.
One source said, if things had continued the way they were going for Olise in Chelsea’s academy system, we would not see the footballer we see today; the one who plays with the freedom of the pitch, the one who tries things you think are ridiculous, the one we all love to watch.
