Chelsea have an "interest" in signing Crystal Palace's exciting winger Michael Olise this summer, but the move might not be feasible, claims transfer insider Dean Jones.
Is Michael Olise joining Chelsea this summer?
As it is every year, Stamford Bridge has once again become a hub of transfer activity.
Unusually, the West Londoners have actually done more selling than buying this year, with a raft of players leaving the club one after another last month. Still, with that sorted, their attention seems to be back firmly on incomings.
So far, the only significant signings for the Blues have been striker Nicolas Jackson from Villarreal, Angelo Gabriel from Santos, and Diego Moreira from Benfica.
Christoper Nkunku has also officially joined the club, but the deal to sign him from RB Leipzig was agreed back in 2022.
Even with all of these attacking signings, the Pensioners are now keen to sign Palace's young star Olise, who was a part of the Chelsea academy system as a youth player.
According to RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins, the West Londoners have submitted a €45m (£39m) bid to secure the youngster's signature, which is £4m more than his release clause.
The Daily Mail have reported that Chelsea are willing to pay more than required to ensure Manchester City don't sign him, who the publication claim are also interested.
What has Dean Jones said about Michael Olise and Chelsea?
Jones explained that the player should be incredibly familiar to the Blues as he came up through their youth set-up, but that a deal seems unlikely at the moment as he isn't sure where the opportunity to sign him will come from.
Speaking to Football FanCast, he said: "They have interest in Olise, but what we need to gauge next is just how feasible the move is going to be.
"He's a player that came through Chelsea's youth set-up, so the player profiling and understanding of his background is all taken care of. But will the opportunity to sign him actually open up here?"
How good is Michael Olise?
Despite making 12 starts in the Premier League for Palace in the 2021/22 season, it was last year that Olise, who was labelled as "outrageous", truly established himself as a top-flight quality player and put himself on the radar of every major club in the country.
In his 31 starts for the South Londoners last season, he scored two goals, provided 11 assists, earnt himself five Man-of-the-Match awards and achieved an average match rating of 6.99, per WhoScored.
His underlying numbers are even more impressive and, considering they have come in a side that was famously goal-shy for much of last season, suggesting that he could go stratospheric if he got a regular run of games in a top-four side.
And, he even broke a record for being the youngest player to ever assist three goals from open play in a Premier League game.
According to FBref, who compare players in similar positions across Europe's top five leagues, the Hammersmith-born dynamo sits in the top 7% for assists, the top 11% for blocks, the top 14% for interceptions, the top 15% for tackles and expected assists, the top 19% for shot-creating actions, and the top 22% for attempted passes, all per 90.
Described as "sensational" by broadcaster Ade Oladipo and a "joy to watch" by former professional turned Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison if Chelsea can get this deal over the line, it would represent brilliant business.
