Michael Olise is regarded as the standout signing of Max Eberl’s tenure so far at Bayern Munich. The board member for sport has now reflected on the 2024 signing.

Now 24, the French right winger joined Bayern Munich from Crystal Palace for a fixed transfer fee of €53 million and has developed into one of the best players in the world. When Bayern Munich first took an interest in Olise, his "unsettled career path" stood out, Eberl told the club's magazine 51. "He attended various elite training centres in England. But a career path like that need not be a warning sign, obstacles can also shape a player."

Olise played for Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City at youth level before stepping up to senior football at Reading FC and eventually establishing himself at Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

"To get to know a footballer, above all you have to talk to people who have played alongside or against him," Ebel explained. "With Michael, we had the advantage that Oliver Glasner was his coach at Crystal Palace at the time, and our sporting director Christoph Freund knows Glasner very well." The two Austrians once worked together at RB Salzburg. "If a coach says, 'Of course, take him, take him,' you become suspicious," Eberl said. "But Glasner said, 'He still has to learn, and we would need him.' Then you knew: he valued him."

Susceptibility to injury a small "question mark" for Michael Olise

Bayern Munich's bosses then spoke to Olise himself. "It's a pleasure to talk to him about football," Eberl recalled. "One small question mark was: is he susceptible to injury? He had been out for a long time at Crystal Palace." In his final season in England, Olise missed several weeks at a time on two occasions because of a muscle tear and a thigh injury. But he scored ten goals and provided six assists in his 19 appearances, enough to convince Eberl.

Those concerns have proved unfounded. In almost two and a half years at Bayern Munich so far, Olise has missed games only through suspension. He has scored an impressive 54 goals and provided 61 assists in 119 appearances.