Fabrizio Romano reveals why Manchester United’s deal for Michael Olise is delaying | OneFootball

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has attempted to explain the reason why Manchester United’s deal for Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise is delaying.

Olise is a top target for Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS as they aim to bolster United’s forward options ahead of the new season.

The right-wing position in particular is an area of the pitch that may need to be strengthened. Antony’s struggles both on and off the pitch mostly forced Erik ten Hag to deploy Alejandro Garnacho on that flank for some parts of the 2023/24 season.

While Garnacho did a job there to the best of his abilities, it’s hardly a role he naturally thrives in. Towards the latter stages of the campaign, Amad Diallo produced some sensational performances on the right but it’s clear that moving forward, United need more quality depth. This is where Olise comes in.

Last term, Olise plundered an impressive 10 goals and six assists in just 19 Premier League appearances. United have been heavily linked to them but it’s not just them. Chelsea are also thought to be in the race to secure the Frenchman’s services.

A recent report covered by The Peoples Person relayed that amidst United’s dithering, the Blues had taken a “big step forward” in their efforts to secure Olise’s services by reaching a verbal agreement with the player over personal terms.

Chelsea are understood to be keen on moving with speed to ensure they beat United to the 22-year-old’s services. All this is happening while the Red Devils are still conducting an end-of-season review that’s expected to determine Ten Hag’s fate as club boss.

Romano joined Ben Jacobs on CaughtOffside’s Debrief and gave his verdict on why United seem to be dragging their heels on the Olise front while Chelsea are making moves.

The Italian journalist explained that unlike Chelsea, United almost certainly need to make sales before making any big purchases and this is perhaps what may be making the club slow in concretely swooping in for Olise.

In particular, Romano noted that United first need to permanently part ways with Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood. The proceeds from these respective sales can then be directed towards recruiting Olise.

Romano said, “It’s important to see what’s going to happen with Manchester United in terms of the manager because you always decide the top targets with the manager. Olise is a player they like and someone who’s been on the list for months but as we know, there’s also Chelsea.”

“Olise remains one of the players Chelsea are closely monitoring and they consider him one of the targets for this summer after they were really close to signing Olise last summer.”

“He’s [Olise] one of the names for United but it’s really important for United to make some room in terms of financials with Jadon Sancho and Mason Greenwood. They have to sell both players and they want to sell both players. I think how much they get from these two deals will be really important to see how much Manchester United will be able to invest on a winger and also other positions.”

Over the weekend, it emerged that the 20-time English champions want £40m for Sancho. Greenwood is also likely to cost around the same fee.

Olise has a £60 million release clause contained in his current contract at Selhurst Park.

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