The Red Devils are firm admirers of the winger (Picture: Getty Images)
Manchester United have added Crystal Palace’s Michael Olise to their transfer wish list and are primed to trigger his release clause in the summer, according to reports.
The Red Devils are in the middle of an overhaul behind the scenes following Ineos founder Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s £1.3billion deal, with his minority stake also granting him control of sporting matters.
United have struggled with their recruitment under the Glazers but Ratcliffe is ready to put his own team in place, with Dan Ashworth and Paul Mitchell frontrunners to join as sporting director and director of football respectively.
The reshuffle is not expected to be completed in time to have a significant impact in the January window, however, with Ratcliffe’s deal also still needing to be ratified.
As such, the existing recruitment team will be in charge for this month’s activity – though must run everything past Ineos – in what is expected to be a low-key window, with United’s main priority being to ship out fringe players.
They are already thinking about summer additions, however, with the Evening Standard reporting that Olise could be one of the first marquee signings of the Ratcliffe era at Old Trafford.
The 22-year-old – who will not be pursued this month – has been identified as a key target ahead of a planned overhaul of the squad at the end of the season.
Olise scored two superb goals against Brentford last time out (Picture: Getty)
Olise was heavily targeted by Chelsea last summer, while Manchester City were also keen, but he elected to sign a new four-year contract with Palace.
That deal included a release clause, however, which will become active in the summer and is thought to be only a little higher than the £35million clause that existed in his previous deal – though it was complicated to activate.
United feel Olise could revitalise their attack and provide both creativity and firepower, and they are priming themselves to trigger his relatively modest release clause.
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Olise suffered a significant hamstring injury in the summer playing for the France Under-21 side and only returned to the Palace team in the middle of November.
He has quickly found his form and sharpness since then, netting in his second game back against Luton and bagging four goals and an assist in his last four appearances – including a brace in a man-of-the-match display against Brentford.
Despite missing much of the campaign, Olise’s five goals dwarfs the output of current first-choice United right winger Antony, who has failed to score or assist in 21 appearances in all competitions.
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