Manchester United appear to be in the market for a winger in the summer.
It’s safe to say that Antony has not exactly hit the ground running at Old Trafford. The Brazilian winger has struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League and hasn’t lived up to his £84m price tag.
This, remarkably, has left Erik ten Hag and Manchester United on the hunt for another right-winger, meaning that the continuous search after Nani drags on.
But after Ineos identified a summer target – could we have finally found our man?
Michael Olise to Manchester United
Manchester United and Ineos want Crystal Palace winger, Michael Olise.
Reports started a few months ago that United are now eyeing up the Palace winger, with the Eagles wide man understood to be one of the first early targets for Ineos.
We can see why. Dubbed ‘special‘ by Patrick Vieira – Olise is one of the brightest budding talents in England’s top flight and has saved Roy Hodgson’s side numerous times this season.
He is expected to choose Manchester United over Chelsea this summer with the Premier League assist machine an ‘avid’ fan of the Red Devils.
Excellent, no? Well, there’s a burning issue which has been a recurring problem at Carrington over the years.
The Michael Olise Manchester United worry
When Olise plays, he’s electric – but there’s a looming problem with the 22-year-old which may worry Manchester United fans – he’s been rather injury-prone this season.
Olise hobbled off in Saturday’s defeat to Brighton for Palace after just 11 minutes. This comes after missing a grand-spanking 135 days in the 22/23 campaign, which spanned over 13 fixtures.
United have an extensive history of rotten luck with injury-prone players. Anthony Martial, Donny van de Beek and Eric Bailly to name a few of the recent purchases – so could Olise also fit this bracket?
Crystal Palace perspective on Michael Olise
So, with Olise coming through as a huge target, should United be worried as to what they’re getting into? Yes and no.
We Are Palace writer Jonny Maze shared his thoughts on Olise’s injury record. He said:
“I think the consensus is that he’s absolutely brilliant and his injury record is in part to Hodgson (at least recently). He played Olise in numerous consecutive 90s after he returned from a hamstring injury which is ludicrous and now he’s re-strained it.”
So, although the manager is somewhat to blame, frankly given Manchester United’s treatment of injured players – this should raise some concerns.
The positive, is the Olise injury seems to be a knock of the same thing. Aside from the longer sustained hamstring injury, he’s had just 12 days out since 2020.
The Michael Olise verdict?
Nevertheless, we still think Olise is well with going for. The dazzling winger would be a solid addition to the Red Devils and reminds us of a Sir Alex Ferguson signing – poaching the league’s best young talent.
He’d be a great fit and we’re sure after the injury issue is ironed out, he’d be an absolute gem at Old Trafford. Let’s see what materialises in the summer.
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