Sir Jim Ratcliffe failed to land Michael Olise for Man Utd last summer (Image: Getty)
have lived to regret failing to persuade Michael Olise to join from Crystal Palace last summer. Had completed a £55million deal for the Frenchman, he would be thriving in ’s 3-4-2-1 system and United’s struggles in front of goal would have been eased.
United were strongly linked with Olise during the second half of last season. The 23-year-old was excellent at Palace under Oliver Glasner, who uses a similar tactical set-up to Amorim.
Olise struck 10 goals in only 19 appearances in a campaign hindered by a recurring hamstring injury. The cream of Europe targeted a summer transfer, with United, and all among the clubs interested in a deal.
However, it was Bayern Munich who triggered Olise’s £55m release clause and persuaded him to part with football. United, City and did not do enough to tempt him into a move.
That is despite the reporting that Olise was INEOS’s top target heading towards the summer transfer window.
United, in particular, will regret not signing the former Reading star. He has excelled in the Bundesliga and has quickly become a key player for Vincent Kompany. A record of ten goals and 11 assists this season is better in both categories than any United player across all competitions.
Under Amorim, Olise would have played in the left-sided No. 10 position. United have very few players capable of playing in the dual-attacking midfield positions behind the centre-forward. Olise operates in the right-hand channel and is one of Europe’s best chance creators, dribblers and pressers.
According to football data website FBRef, Olise averages 0.52 expected assists per 90 minutes and sits in the top percentile of players in Europe’s top five leagues for that metric. He manages nearly four passes into the opposition’s penalty area per 90, perhaps suggesting that he might have formed a better relationship with than any United player this season.
Michael Olise would fit seamlessly into Ruben Amorim’s Man Utd system (Image: Getty)
Olise completes 6.43 shot-creating actions (the two actions directly leading to a shot taking place) per 90, another metric in which he compares excellently with other players in Europe.
An excellent ball-carrier, Olise would have dragged United further up the pitch. The four-time France international carries the ball into the final third 2.86 times per 90, and 1.76 carries into the penalty area.
A criticism of Amorim’s side has been that they are often too deep, a problem that having Olise would have helped to solve.
The Portuguese coach has so far found creating a free-flowing attacking team difficult. That task would have been much easier had Ratcliffe persuaded Olise to join last summer.