Chelsea have Michael Olise transfer advantage amid Crystal Palace talks

Chelsea have contacted Crystal Palace over a possible move for winger Michael Olise this summer, football.london understands.

The Blues are looking to strengthen their squad for newly-appointed head coach Enzo Maresca and Olise is one of the club's top targets this summer. The 22-year-old signed a contract extension at Selhurst Park last summer but that deal contains a release clause believed to be in the region of £60million.

Chelsea are yet to get in touch with Olise and his representatives and are looking to strike an agreement with Palace before doing so. Last summer, the complexity of the former Blues academy player's clause in his contract caused the club some problems, football.london understands.

Olise enjoyed a sparkling season with the Eagles last time around despite only featuring 19 times in the Premier League because of injury problems. The London-born winger scored 10 goals in that time, as well as setting up six.

Chelsea, though, are not alone in their attempts to sign Olise, who is set to represent France in the Olympics later this summer. Newcastle United have also approached Crystal Palace over the possible signing, while Bayern Munich and Manchester United are also said to hold an interest in the talented winger.

Fortunately for Chelsea, and other clubs interested, Olise has not been selected for the France squad for Euro 2024, the competition that gets underway this evening. So there will be no mad rush for the Blues to get the deal done beforehand.

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However, the Crystal Palace attacker has been selected for the France Under-23s' preliminary squad for this summer's Olympic Games. Thierry Henry has named Olise as part of the initial squad, with the tournament set to get underway on July 24.

Chelsea are very serious about Olise and are looking to avoid mistakes they made last summer in their pursuit of the winger. The Blues will be hoping they can wrap up the deal before the above date, so negotiations can be completed in time for him to represent Les Bleus.

Meanwhile, the club remain in talks with Aston Villa over a deal to sign Jhon Duran this summer. Chelsea made contact with Duran and his representatives earlier in the week with personal terms not expected to be an issue.

football.london understands, however, that Aston Villa are demanding £40million-£45million for the 20-year-old striker. Chelsea are determined to drive this price down and are locked in talks with Villa to try and make that happen.