Man Utd are unlikely to sign Michael Olise from Crystal Palace in the summer transfer window despite their interest, according to reports.
The Red Devils are looking to bring in new attackers this summer with speculation that Jadon Sancho and Antony could leave the club in the summer.
Sancho is already on loan at Borussia Dortmund and the German club will be looking to make the deal permanent in the summer, while Antony has provided zero goals and one assist in 25 Premier League appearances this term.
And previous reports have claimed that Crystal Palace winger Olise is INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s ‘only currently-approved summer target’ as they wait to appoint new directors.
Michael Olise to move to a Champions League club?
Ratcliffe wants Newcastle’s Dan Ashworth to become the Red Devils’ sporting director, while he hopes to bring in Southampton’s Jason Wilcox as technical director.
But Man Utd are now unlikely to be able to land Olise in the summer transfer window with The Athletic‘s David Ornstein insisting that he will leave for a Champions League.
Ornstein said on The Athletic FC podcast: “If Olise leaves Palace in the upcoming window I expect it would only be for a Champions League club and, even within that, one of the small number of most prominent of those.
“He is said to be an intelligent/thoughtful player who knows exactly what level he can reach and will be clear in deciding if, when and where it is right for him to move. Like with his previous contract, there is thought to be a release clause in the fresh terms he signed after the Chelsea saga.
“So clubs will have a decent idea of what they need to do to get him. To my knowledge there have been no meaningful developments so far but obviously there’s a good chance that changes in the coming weeks and months.”
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano predicted earlier this year that Arsenal would “maybe” be in for Olise and now The Guardian has claimed that they are targeting the Crystal Palace winger and Newcastle’s Alexander Isak.
Arsenal want a new striker and a new winger with Olise available for £65m because of a release clause in his contract, while it is thought Isak is worth about £100m to the Magpies.
Fabrizio Romano: Maybe Arsenal can look for that kind of player
Romano wrote in his Caught Offside column in February: “I expect there to be a big race for Michael Olise this summer. I think Manchester United could be there because they appreciate the player, of course we have to wait for the new director to come in to decide what’s the strategy, what’s the budget, how much they want to invest in that position.
“We know that Manchester United would also be busy for a centre-back, probably a left-back from what I’m told, and then a centre-striker, so they have some positions to cover, so let’s see how much of the budget they want to invest on a player like Michael Olise.
“Chelsea also had an interest in the past, so I think it’s going to be an interesting one for these two clubs and let’s see if someone else will move because maybe Arsenal can look for that kind of player. I think it’s still an open race, nothing is decided yet.”
