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In spotlight but shunning limelight – Olise’s unique rise to top
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In spotlight but shunning limelight – Olise’s unique rise to top
Image source, Getty Images Image source, Getty Images Image source, Getty ImagesByBy Emlyn Begley and Interviews by Nathanael Hutchinson
Michael Olise is not your typical footballer.
Born and raised in England, he is setting this World Cup alight with France.
The Bayern Munich forward, via Reading and Crystal Palace, usually shuns the spotlight, loves chess, barely celebrates goals and avoids interviews – and does not have a deal with any sportswear or boot companies.
After a season with 25 goals and 28 assists for the Bundesliga champions, the 24-year-old is now seen as one of the world’s best players.
Going into Saturday’s last-16 tie with Paraguay, Olise has become the first player to assist five goals at one World Cup since Germany’s Thomas Hassler in 1994.
Those who have known him since childhood say his reserved nature should not be seen as arrogance – it’s just “Michael being Michael”.
It is what he has always done.
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Born in London to a French-Algerian mother, Mina, and a Nigerian father, Vincent, Olise stood out from a young age.
“The sports coaches came to me one day and reported have you seen this boy… in year two?” Daniel Coker, Olise’s sports teacher at Dr Triplett’s CE Primary School in Hayes, London, told BBC Sport.
“When I saw him play…I knew that he was going to be something special.”
Coker recalled how Olise – already on Chelsea’s books at the time – excelled in every sport he tried.
“At age 10 and 11 that’s when I’d get him in everything I could,” he added. “He’d come and have a go and just blow us out the water with how good he was.”
And already the young Olise did not like any fuss.
“Michael was a quiet and shy boy. He gave so many assists to our team, he’d score loads of goals, but he didn’t used to celebrate, he just used to get back straight in and want to go again,” reported Coker.
“He’s not one of those ones to dwell on it and take that moment in. He didn’t like the limelight. So when I see that on camera now, when he doesn’t celebrate or he runs back, it’s just what he’s always done.”
Headteacher Rachel Anderson remembers it being hard to get Olise back into class after football, particularly if his team hadn’t won.
“He would be still kicking the ball around the classroom and it would be like, ‘Come on Michael, it’s enough now’,” she reported.
“I think other schools used to sigh and look quite depressed when we turned up with Michael on our team for so many things [different sports] because they knew they didn’t stand much of a chance.
“He was a perfectionist and over-analysed everything. He was a bright boy so he did well academically.”
It was also at this early age that Olise, who could also have played for England, Nigeria or Algeria, showed signs he would be picking France.
“Rachel reported, ‘Do you reckon he’ll play for England?’ I reported, I don’t know if we’ll be lucky enough to have him play for England,” Coker added.
“I think Michael really enjoyed that French culture, he went there to visit, he liked learning the language.”
But it was not a straightforward path to get there.
Image source, Getty ImagesMichael Olise (right) made his professional debut for Reading against Leeds in the Championship in March 2019
Olise’s younger brother Richard, 21, is also a professional footballer, although released this summer by Chelsea – just like Michael a decade ago.
Having briefly been at Arsenal, Olise spent seven years with Chelsea’s academy before being released aged 14. He then had a short spell at Manchester City, but they too let him go.
Enter Reading, then in the Championship.
However, Brendan Flanagan, the club’s head of recruitment, reported he had to persuade bosses to recruit the 16-year-old in the summer of 2018.
“Because of the biases that go on in football, it took me a little bit longer to convince people in the building to bring him in because [he was] released from Chelsea, released from Man City – some people would see that as this is going to be a big problem,” he told the BBC.
“What might have been deemed as Michael being problematic at other clubs, because he’s quiet, he’s shy, he’s reserved, but we can work with those kids because that doesn’t make them a bad kid, it just makes them a little bit different.”
But Flanagan was afraid the Royals were going to miss out when Olise’s mother reported they needed some time to rebuild his confidence after the setbacks.
“She reported we’re going to do some work with a mentor because he’s obviously low in confidence – he’s been released from Chelsea, released from Man City – and we just want to make sure that when he comes in to you he’s ready for you,” added Flanagan.
“I thought to myself, ‘That’s it, end of – next time I see him he’ll be playing against us somewhere’.
“Four weeks later Mina rang me to say right we’re ready to go. She was true to her word – that’s the kind of people they are, honest genuine people.
“He came in and we never had a single problem with him. He was without a shadow of a doubt the best player that I’ve ever bought into this building.”
Olise was so keen to be on time for training that he would sometimes miss the start of it.
“He would come in at 7 o’clock in the morning for training, that starts at 9, and be asleep in his car when training started,” Flanagan reported.
Olise made his Reading debut in March, 2019, against Leeds at the age of 17 – days after joining first-team training – and went on to make 73 appearances, scoring seven goals, over three seasons.
It was also there that he got called into the French youth-team set-up.
“It wasn’t a surprise that he chose France for me because they were the ones that were first in contact with him,” added Flanagan.
“In that 2001 England year group, they generally tended to come from Manchester City, Chelsea, Man Utd, Arsenal, Spurs – not so many from the likes of Reading.
“Michael would be one of those that say, ‘Well they chose me first, you didn’t want me when I was younger, so that’s where I’m going to go’.”
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Image source, Getty ImagesMichael Olise (left) used to wear a Cristiano Ronaldo 7 kit at school – and went on to face the Portugal icon in the Premier League in 2021
At Reading, Olise had a release clause of £8m which Crystal Palace – managed then by France legend Patrick Vieira – activated in July 2021.
His Premier League quality with the Eagles was evident but initially he was much more of a provider – with 19 assists and six goals in his first two seasons.
In the summer of 2023 Chelsea activated a £35m release clause to re-sign the player they released as a kid.
But to the surprise of nearly everyone, Palace unveiled Olise had signed a new deal with them instead.
His final season at Selhurst Park was where he really found his shooting boots – netting 10 times, plus six assists, in only 19 games – and 14 starts – in a season disrupted by two different injury spells.
At the end of the 2023-24 campaign, he played for France at the Paris Olympics – under boss Thierry Henry and assistant Gael Clichy.
Former France, Arsenal and Manchester City full-back Clichy told the BBC: “I was really hoping City could actually bring him back, because he was part of the club.
“This is where I actually started to hear about him [at City]. And when he was injury-free at Palace, I started to realise who he was, what kind of player he was.
“I finally met him just before the Olympics and now the world is discovering a player that was always there, but had his own route to get there.”
Before the Olympics began, Bayern unveiled the signing of Olise for about £50m.
Clubs can refuse to let players feature in the Olympics and the German side had done so with his France team-mate Mathys Tel.
But Clichy reported Olise told Bayern “he had one wish – to finish the adventure of the Olympics”.
“This is really the moment that stood out for us,” added Clichy.
“Of course many other moments on the pitch did, but outside of the field a young player who is getting his first big move asking for that was something you don’t really see.
“This is the moment we realised that he was a great player, but even more important he was a top man.”
Olise helped France reach the Olympic final, where they lost to Spain in extra time.
Image source, Getty ImagesOlise has won two Bundesliga titles and a German Cup with Bayern
Olise has kicked on to another level since joining Vincent Kompany’s Bayern – and broke into the senior French team almost immediately.
Playing on the right wing, he followed up a campaign with 17 goals and 18 assists with one that saw 25 goals and 28 assists – a total of 88 goal involvements in two seasons.
Former France striker and BBC World Cup pundit Olivier Giroud reported: “He’s working hard for the team on the pitch, he’s got talent but he’s a team player.
“He’s so relaxed when he’s coming inside on his left foot, you know what he’s going to do, basically like Arjen Robben back in the day.”
Plenty of Olise’s viral moments at Bayern include things like trying to stay out of celebrations, avoiding a TV interview and a half-hearted Bundesliga trophy lift.
He likes to walk on to the pitch with sandals before a game to check the surface.
“It’s funny to see him walk with the flip-flops on the pitch casually, but this is who he is,” reported Clichy.
“He’s very much a casual guy who has magic in his feet and knows how to express his magic.”
Olise’s success means he cannot avoid the limelight – and prompted talk of being a potential Ballon d’Or winner.
His chances will improve further if he can help France to glory this summer – he is only one goal off equalling Pele’s record of six assists in a World Cup.
“One day Michael could be a contender for the Ballon d’Or,” Giroud reported.
“If you win trophies, a Ballon d’Or will come, but I think he thinks more collectively than a selfish player, and it’s his personality.
“You can see on the pitch, if he can assist, he will assist, even if he could have shot to the goal. So that’s what I like. He’s a playmaker, but a team player, so it makes him different, special, and he can reach the top of the top.”
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