Chelsea have perfect chance to scout Michael Olise alternative amid £60m summer transfer

Chelsea's pursuit of Michael Olise has been well documented in recent weeks. The Crystal Palace winger is a top target for the Blues this summer and his future at Selhurst Park remains uncertain.

football.london understands Chelsea are set to talk to Olise and his representatives in the next few days after the Eagles granted permission. The 22-year-old has a £60million release clause inserted in the contract he signed Palace last summer but any move would be complicated, with parts of the money owed to his former club Reading as well.

On Wednesday night it emerged Palace have offered Olise a new deal themselves, with a higher salary and new release clause part of the new terms. It's now firmly up to the player and whether he chooses to stay at Palace or move to Chelsea, although Bayern Munich and Newcastle United have also been given permission to speak to the player.

If Olise does choose to stay in south London or indeed move to another club which isn't Chelsea, the Blues would need to look at alternatives. One player who has previously been linked with the Stamford Bridge outfit is Federico Chiesa.

The Juventus man is a versatile winger who can operate anywhere across the front line. Chelsea expressed interest in the 26-year-old last summer but signed a number of other attacking talents instead, such as Cole Palmer, Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku.

Chiesa's time at Juventus has been plagued by injuries, with the Italian moving to the Old Lady on an initial two-year loan from Fiorentina. He suffered an ACL injury the following season which somewhat halted his progress, but last campaign he appeared back to his best. Chiesa appeared 37 times in a Juventus shirt during the 2023/24 season, scoring 10 goals and assisting three more.

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"The injury slowed down my career, but it taught me a lot," Chiesa told France Football. "Before I was probably a more instinctive, a more impulsive player, and maybe my game has changed a little, but not my speed. Now I’m back to being very close to level I was before the injury."

Now, Chiesa is part of the Italy squad competing at Euro 2024, with the winger starting his nation's opening group stage clash against Albania. The Italian started the game at Signal Iduna Park on the right wing and was named UEFA Player of the Match after playing a starring role in the 2-1 victory.

Speaking after the match, the Italian told UEFA: "I'm so happy with our performance. Albania were very tough opponents, they had quantity and quality. In future, we need to finish game off when we have the chance – otherwise, you are always at risk, as we were in the final moments."

Italy play their second Group B game on Thursday evening as they take on Spain, with Chiesa set to start for Luciano Spalletti's side once again. The match provides Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca the perfect opportunity to scout the winger and see if he has what it takes to play in the Premier League.

Chiesa has been linked with an exit from Juventus this summer so a move away is possible, especially as the Italian will enter the final year of his contract with the Bianconeri at the end of the month. It's reported that Chiesa could be available for anything between £25.3million and £33.7million this summer, which could be considerably less than the £60million valuation put on Olise by Palace.