Chelsea chief Joe Shields is pushing for the club to beat Manchester United to the transfer of Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise in a potential £60million deal, according to Simon Phillips on Substack.
The talented young Frenchman has shone at Selhurst Park and clearly seems ready to make the step up to a bigger club, with key figures clearly eager for him to make the move to Stamford Bridge.
According to Phillips, Shields is driving this and pushing for the Blues to sign Olise, who has a £60m release clause at Palace, and who is also wanted by Man Utd.
The report adds that Olise came very close to joining Chelsea last summer, so it could still be that they will be able to lure him to the club this year, in what could be a vital move for the west Londoners to bring in a much-needed upgrade on the likes of Mykhailo Mudryk, Raheem Sterling and Noni Madueke.
Olise transfer: Should he choose Chelsea or Man United?
Chelsea and United are two of the biggest clubs in England, and indeed Europe, so it might not be the easiest choice for Olise if it comes down to a decision between those two.
Still, even if MUFC just won the FA Cup final, there clearly seems to be a more promising project being put together at CFC, especially once they finalise a deal to hire promising young manager Enzo Maresca.
The Red Devils are surely at an earlier stage of their project due to the recent change in ownership and new arrivals at board level, so that could likely mean a change of manager in the near future, as well as numerous ins and outs in the transfer market.
Olise would do well to take these things into consideration when choosing his next move, though in truth he’ll perhaps be hoping the likes of Arsenal, Manchester City or Liverpool join the race as they’d likely be much better moves for him at this stage!