Michael Olise has been described as ‘heartless’ by the mother of his secret 20-month-old daughter after she alleged that he has never met his child, nor contributed to her upbringing financially.
The France international, 24, was revealed to have fathered a child with 34-year-old Fatima Zaunbrecher on the heels of their two-year relationship, with Zaunbrecher taking her story public for the first time this week.
Speaking to German outlet BILD, Zaunbrecher claimed that Olise has not spoken to her since his daughter Aaliyah Noor’s birth, choosing instead to communicate through lawyers.
Olise is also not believed to have met his daughter, with his lawyers reportedly advising him that it ‘wouldn’t be productive’ for him to do so.
‘How heartless can you be towards your child?’ Zaunbrecher questioned in her interview, adding that his ‘callousness’ had ‘devastated her’.
‘He doesn’t even talk to me, and just sends his lawyers instead. And then they send me letters saying that “it wouldn’t be productive for their client to see the child”. Another of his lawyers wrote to me suggesting I buy the little girl secondhand clothes to make ends meet with the money I have right now.’
Michael Olise has been accused of not supporting or meeting his 20-month-old daughter
Zaunbrecher is based in Dusseldorf and had been when the former couple started to communicate on Instagram in 2022.
The relationship began when Olise was playing at Crystal Palace, ahead of his £47.4million move to Bayern Munich.
The woman alleges that messages were exchanged between them for two months before she joined him in south London for their first date, saying that the pair had ‘liked each other immediately’.
‘He’s half Algerian, I’m half Moroccan,’ she explained. ‘They’re neighbouring countries after all. He also dislikes large crowds and parties, just like me.
‘When he tried to kiss me on our first date, I stopped him and told him we should get to know each other better. He accepted that. From then on, I flew to London regularly.’
Their relationship eventually became tempestuous, Zaunbrecher added, due to disputes over Olise’s frequent habit of playing PlayStation rather than spending time with her, and claims of infidelity on his part.
Zaunbrecher then claimed that two weeks after she had finally broken up with him over a suspected other woman, she discovered she was pregnant.
A paternity test – completed in Munich at Olise’s insistence – has since confirmed that he is Aaliyah’s father, but despite this, he is never thought to have met her.
BILD confirmed that sources close to the footballer suggested that he had not refused contact with Zaunbrecher.
Zaunbrecher also claimed that she has been fighting with Olise’s lawyers for over two years in a bid to receive alimony, after the player initially offered a sum she has described as ‘ridiculous’.
Olise has an intensely private social media presence and has often seemed to shy away from the spotlight in public too.
But since the revelation in the German press, Olise is believed to have seen his social media comments section overwhelmed with replies, and since switched off the function on Instagram.
Alongside the article, BILD also released what they alleged to be a copy of the document confirming Olise’s paternity.
Olise has not yet issued a comment publicly.
