Man United fell short with their late attempt to sign Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise.
Manchester United has a variety of positions that need to be addressed this summer. One of them being the right-wing position. Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood will not be here next season. Antony hardly covered himself in glory. Perhaps there’s an opening for Amad, who is viewed highly, though you get the feeling a signing will be made in that position – assuming the budget stretches.
One man who was heavily linked with a Reds switch over the last few months is Michael Olise. It felt like the perfect fit for the Crystal Palace man. However, financial concerns always made this move a long shot.
Over the last couple of days, rumours of a Bayern Munich switch for the French winger ramped up, leaving United with an uphill battle to secure Olise’s signature.
According to The Mirror, United did make their play with an ‘extraordinary’ late offer to sign the Reds-linked winger, but the move to sign the in-form man did fail. City also made a last minute push, but seemingly the deal was already done.
For United, the lack of Champions League football on the table always felt like a possible problem, though the Reds were offering to send Olise back to Palace for another year first. Maybe Olise just wanted a clean break from The Eagles, looking to move on now rather than in twelve months’ time.
To me, this does feel like the one that got away. Olise would have been a top tier signing for Erik ten Hag, though I do understand that a large chunk of the transfer budget would have been spent on one player.
When all is said and done, perhaps it’s wise that £60-70m wasn’t dropped on Olise this time around.
Do you think Man United should have pushed harder to sign Michael Olise? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.