Michael Olise transfer fee won't scare off Liverpool - but jury still out on £60m deal

Liverpool have become the latest side to be linked with a move for Crystal Palace forward Michael Olise this summer.

Chelsea failed in their efforts to snap up the 22-year-old in a £35m switch last year, but reportedly remain interested in re-signing their former academy youngster. Meanwhile, both Manchester United and Newcastle United are also said to be interested in signing the Frenchman.

If the Reds, who were previously linked with the winger when he was still on the books of Reading back in 2021, were to join the race for Olise, they already have a good idea of how much he will cost. Having signed a new long-term contract with Palace last summer, which reportedly contains a release clause, it has been suggest that the Eagles will only entertain offers over £60m for the forward and Eberechi Eze.

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Such a fee would place him fourth in Liverpool’s list of all-time most expensive signings, behind Virgil van Dijk, Darwin Nunez and Alisson Becker. As the Reds have regularly proven in recent years, if they really want a player, they are not put off by a hefty fee.

It is easy to see why they have been linked with Olise, especially when doubts about Mohamed Salah’s long-term future at the club persist. The Egyptian is out of contract in 2025, and even if he were to sign an extension, Liverpool will still need a long-term successor for him sooner rather than later.

A young and exciting, pacey, left-footed, inverted forward with an eye for a goal and a pass, and can beat a man for fun, Olise is perhaps an obvious alternative to the untrained eye. And his homegrown status makes him even more attractive to Premier League suitors.

He certainly set tongues wagging with his displays for Palace last year after all, returning an impressive 10 goals and six assists from just 19 Premier League appearances.

But the fact that he was limited to just 19 appearances should act as a red flag to the Reds. Olise was sidelined for half of the season because of two separate hamstring injuries that ruled him out for a combined 23 matches.

Admittedly, such enforced absences are so far a one-off, with the Frenchman appearing in all but one Premier League match in 2022/23. But last year’s woes are definitely something to be mindful of when weighing up potential interest.

After all, while Salah would miss seven matches because of a hamstring injury of his own last year, it is the only prolonged absence in the 32-year-old’s entire seven-year Anfield career. Boasting a new flawless availability record, missing just 13 games because of injury (or illness) in total for the club, while such small numbers are freakish, it sheds new light on just how difficult a player he will be to replace - and acts as a warning sign against Olise in comparison.

The Egyptian will limit the game-time of any successor in the interim before leaving a gaping hole whenever his Reds career does come to an end. Liverpool will be determined to get the timing right when it comes to signing a replacement, and be hell-bent on bringing in the right player to take the place of one of their greatest ever players in the Premier League era.

They have also undergone such searches before when it came to replace Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino, bringing in Luis Diaz, Nunez, and Cody Gakpo for a combined for £179m. And while such a task was previously considered impossible prior to the trio’s arrival, replacing Salah is an entirely more challenging prospect.

While it will be near-impossible to replace him like-for-like on the pitch, Liverpool will need a successor they can rely on to be available at the very least. That necessity is even stronger when you consider the frequent injury woes Nunez and Diogo Jota have been troubled by at times.

After last season, the jury on that score regarding Olise remains out. As a result, he has a point to prove ahead this season regardless of where he ends up playing his football. But while that could be proven to be a longer term issue with regards to the forward, there is also a more short-term headache in the way of any summer transfer.

A France Under-21s international, the 22-year-old has been included in France’s squad for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.

The football tournament will be held from July 24 to August 10. But wth France Under-23s facing Paraguay in the first of three warm-up games on July 4, their players could end up missing the entirety of pre-season while competing in the tournament.

Clearly this throws a spanner in the works when it comes to transfer negotiations before being left without the forward for the duration of preparations for the new Premier League season - which gets underway on August 16.

Olise is a talented player to be sure, and supporters would inevitably be excited if Liverpool did move for the Crystal Palace star. But the Reds’ recruitment team will have to tread carefully.

Replacing Salah will be a thankless enough task already with no margin for error. And given the aforementioned question mark currently hanging over Olise’s head, signing him could be even more of a gamble - and one Liverpool will have to think twice about before making.