The real reason why Michael Olise was 'kicked out' of Chelsea's academy has emerged as the winger continues to prove he's one of the best players in the world during this summer's World Cup. The Bayern Munich superstar assisted twice in France's 3-0 win over Norway in the Round of 32 on Monday night.
He is running away as the competition's top assist-provider, with his overall tally now at five. But this is nothing new for the 24-year-old, who has shown plenty of flashes of brilliance over the years, including for Crystal Palace during his time in the Premier League. But because of his recent performances, he's finally in the conversation for the Ballon d'Or.
Olise, for that reason, goes down as yet another special talent that Chelsea let go too easily. Nowadays, nobody can comprehend such a rash decision as those at Stamford Bridge struggle to get off their seat for Alejandro Garnacho and other equally poor wide men - but a reason has now emerged.
Why Chelsea Kicked Michael Olise Out of Their Youth Academy
Crystal Palace winger Michael Olise in action
Olise emerged at Reading in England’s lower leagues, before furthering his potential at Crystal Palace and then supercharging his talent following a 2024 transfer to Bayern. But Reading was the last club to get hands on Olise, picking up the pieces after Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City had him first.
Jose Gomes was the manager at Reading who saw the potential in Olise, and even stopped him getting kicked out there, too. “Before he was 14, he was at Arsenal’s youth academy, but he didn’t adapt,” he told AS amid transfer links to Real Madrid.
“Chelsea kicked him out for the same reason some tried to do so at Reading: because he didn’t attend classes and didn’t pay attention to his studies.”
Gomes went to bat for Olise when his Reading future - and perhaps any pro career at that stage - was in jeopardy, telling the “youth academy directors that the boy didn’t want to be a mathematician or an engineer, but a soccer player.”
He also explained: “At [Manchester] City, it was because his teammates laughed at him. He had weak arms, and English boys were strong. When the fitness coach told them to do push ups, he struggled a lot, and his teammates mocked him. He felt humiliated and left.”
How Reading Helped Nurture Olise's Special Talents
Michael Olise readingLee Smith via Action Images, Reuters
Olise debuted for Reading in March 2019, at age 17, having been promised a chance by Gomes if he could get through physically brutal treatment in training without quitting. “I told my players not to hold back when it came to tackling him hard in training so he could learn what professional soccer is like. Michael complained and cried ... he didn’t understand it at the time.
"I told him that if he could endure a week of his teammates’ defensive actions without crying, I’d call him up. In the end, it was two weeks, and when I thought he was ready, I called him up.”
It's safe to say Olise no longer looks like a player trying to earn the spotlight, he demands it instead. Pace, flair, dribbling, passing, dead-ball prowess, the unrelenting desire to take on his man and drive any defence back - the Frenchman is a player that flaunts every trait in the playbook that a manager would ever want from their wide man.
And if the traditional winger was ever a dying art form, it could be soundly argued that the 24-year-old has helped its all-action renaissance almost entirely by himself. It's about time he got his flowers and proved the aforementioned trio of English clubs wrong.