£8m transfer should still embarrass Reading FC after more Crystal Palace evidence | OneFootball

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Michael Olise took full advantage of his opportunity to impress Jose Gomes at Reading during the final day of the 2018/19 season.

Starting alongside Danny Loader and Josh Barrett, the trio were energetic against Birmingham City despite the fact they were unable to get themselves on the scoresheet in a 0-0 draw.

Olise was particularly impressive that day - and it was clear that the Frenchman was going to become a part of the first team sooner rather than later.

Doing reasonably well during the 2019/20 campaign, he then took his game to another level under Veljko Paunovic during 2020/21 despite not starting every game.

Registering seven goals and 12 assists in 44 league appearances during that season, it seemed inevitable that he was going to leave the Select Car Leasing Stadium with an £8m release clause in his contract and just one year left on this deal at the time of his departure.

And Crystal Palace were the side that were wise enough to trigger this clause, with Patrick Vieira's keenness to bring the attacker to the club probably being one of the best decisions he made during his time at Selhurst Park.

When did Michael Olise sign his Reading FC contract?

It's important to rewind because Olise's decision to put pen to paper on the terms he did had a big impact.

Signing this three-year deal back during the summer of 2019, it was already clear that he was going to be a good first-team asset for the Royals at a Championship level.

Why should Reading FC be embarrassed about this £8m deal for Michael Olise?

As a Reading fan, looking further into this £8m deal was important so a judgement could be made on whether the club were at fault for the Frenchman being sold for a low price or not.

There's a clear pro-club argument here.

Olise may not have put pen to paper on a new contract if that release clause wasn't in his contract and selling him for £8m is much better than losing him for a nominal fee.

But it should be embarrassing for the club that this is one of the best exit deals they have negotiated during owner Dai Yongge's time at the club, with the likes of Loader, Omar Richards, Lucas Joao and John Swift all departing Berkshire for free during the Chinese businessman's six-year spell.

Olise was linked with a £45m transfer to Chelsea during the summer and the fact he was sold for less than 20% of that is sickening. And even with that in mind, it's valid to repeat that this £8m switch was one of the Royals' better exit deals when you look at the Dai era as a whole.

It could also be argued that the Royals could have offered better terms to Olise to try and raise that release clause considerably or take it away altogether.

Accusing Olise of being a money-grabber is wrong and he seems to be anything but that, but money talks and as a young player, he may have been prepared to accept a bigger pay packet in exchange for a higher release clause.

That would have been totally understandable. As a young player, he probably didn't have as much money behind him as some of the senior pros, so having that guaranteed long-term financial stability would have been good for him.

The Royals clearly had millions to spend on George Puscas during the latter stages of the summer 2019 window - but they should have spent some of that on tying Olise down to a better deal for them.

His brilliant goal against Luton Town last weekend (see above) and his excellent assists record last season is a reminder of just how gutting his £8m exit was. It should have been much more.

He has spent much of this season out injured, but you would back him to make a big-money move somewhere else in the future.