Chelsea are ready to continue their summer spending with a move for Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise and will check on the severity of his hamstring injury before going ahead with a deal.
The winger suffered a muscle tear while on duty with France Under-21s in June and has undergone an operation, but he has been Mauricio Pochettino’s primary target for an attacking midfielder to add to arrivals in other positions.
Olise has a release clause, thought to be £35 million, which Chelsea are prepared to trigger to bring him to Stamford Bridge after his eye-catching two years at Palace following his arrival from Reading.
Roy Hodgson, the Palace manager, confirmed that Olise would miss the start of the season and suggested he would be sidelined for a period of time during his rehabilitation.
“We’ve known since the injury that it’s going to take a while for him to get fit again”, Hodgson said before the win over Sheffield United.
“It was a serious injury which required an operation. He’s well into his rehabilitation but it’s going to take a bit longer for him to recover.
“At the moment we’re just hoping that the rehabilitation will go well and that we get him back as quickly as possible. But we certainly we won’t be seeing him for a period of time.”
Manchester City have been admirers of Olise as they look at replacements for Riyad Mahrez but Jeremy Doku is the player they are targeting for that position. Chelsea have also looked at Mohammed Kudus for that position.
After signing Moises Caicedo and bidding for Romeo Lavia in central midfield, Pochettino would like an attacking midfielder. He would also like a striker but it is a difficult market in that position.
With Kepa Arrizabalaga leaving for Real Madrid, he needs a No 2 goalkeeper and one possibility being considered is Djordje Petrovic, who has been on the club’s radar since playing for New England Revolution in MLS.
