Why Michael Olise could choose new Palace contract over Chelsea transfer | OneFootball

Last night, news about a Crystal Palace effort to sign Michael Olise up to a monster new contract – with a raised released clause – came out from Fabrizio Romano.

A year ago, our interest in Olise led to him signing this current deal. Palace are trying the same trick again, after another strong season from the winger and plenty of interest this summer – including reported bids of close to £60m from Chelsea.

This contract offer feels like the last roll of the dice, but they must know he’s pretty committed to an exit now. They want to show they’ve done all they can, and that it’s the winger’s call to go. If Chelsea don’t stump up the money for his current release clause, it already looks likely that someone will.

Take deep breaths – Chelsea are still in this race

Still, it’s not time for fans to panic about Chelsea’s attempts to sign him. By all accounts they were going well, and this is just a natural move by Palace. They may as well throw everything they’ve got at keeping Olise, knowing he can raise his price even more this season, and help fire them to some important wins.

It’s tempting – a top salary at a club that really wants you, being the star, with an exciting new manager in place, maybe a few clever transfer to help you out…

Or a move to unstable Chelsea, where you’re never sure what will happen next. Of course, Chelsea are Chelsea, but there’s a clear temptation to staying too.

We reckon Olise will want to take the plunge, and the late run we had into the Conference League will help the sense we’re heading in the right direction in situations like this. We’re not surprised Chelsea are “confident” – although nothing is done yet.