Given the $45 million release clause, Liverpool should sign’magic’ talent before Pep Guardiola does.

By acquiring a Premier League player with an appealing release clause before Chelsea and Manchester City, Liverpool can make up for a transfer blunder it made in 2021.

Harvey Elliott, a Liverpool prospect from the 2020–21 season, shone while on loan at Blackburn Rovers, a team in the Championship. Elliott scored seven goals and, even more impressively, assisted 11 more in his first season of regular men’s football for Tony Mowbray’s team.

In fact, he did so well that, by the time he returned to Liverpool for preseason the following summer, Jürgen Klopp had included him in his first-team plans.

Elliott, however, wasn’t at that time the most outstanding teen athlete in that second tier. Instead, Reading’s Michael Olise won the award for the Championship’s Young Player of the Season after matching his counterpart’s goal total but adding one more assist.

Olise, who was named to the PFA Team of the Year, attracted interest from a number of elite European clubs, including Monaco, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Napoli, and Liverpool (via TeamTalk).

The Frenchman would ultimately sign with Crystal Palace, and ever since, he has appeared to be a major coup for the Eagles.

In 63 Premier League appearances, he has only scored four goals, but more importantly, during that time he has set up a respectable 16 goals. Only Kevin de Bruyne (16 assists) and Mohamed Salah (12 assists) had more assists than he did in the previous campaign. He also finished seventh overall among the big five leagues in Europe.

It is clear from Olise’s inclusion in the top 10 for expected assisted goals (8.7) that he was developing quality opportunities in addition to his exceptional finishing.

He has seven caps for France Under-21, was selected for the squad that competed in the European Championships last month, and appears to be a lock to play for the senior team in the not-too-distant future after establishing himself as one of the top young players in the league.

Indeed, Olise won Selhurst Park’s Player of the Season award, which comes as no surprise given comments like this from teammate Joel Ward.

He referenced Michael’s special talent through football.
london.
“The world is his oyster, and he just keeps getting better from game to game, so I think he’s going to go onto new heights and set the bar. He will achieve extraordinary things if he keeps acting in that manner.

“They [Olise and teammate Eberechi Eze] definitely make my life a little bit easier when I can just pass the ball to them, and they go and do their magic!”.

Olise has been so impressive that Chelsea and Manchester City have both shortlisted him as a transfer target for this summer, sensing the chance for a huge bargain given the player’s $45 million (£35 million/€40 million) release clause (via Fabrizio Romano).

A $50 million (£39 million/€45 million) offer has already been made by Chelsea, according to the French publication RMC Sport, and it may be an effort to outbid Manchester City.

Well, it’s worth pointing out that Olise would represent a very different kind of winger to Salah, so there isn’t really a case for Liverpool to come back into the race and match that offer.

He is a one-on-one threat, similar to the Egyptian, finishing 10th in the league for successful take-ons last season (54), but he is more appropriately referred to as a wide creator than a wide scorer.

This can be seen in his total of 242 crosses attempted in 2022–2023, which was only surpassed by Trent Alexander–Arnold (252) and Newcastle United’s Kieran Trippier (195).

If Olise were to sign, he would be seen as Salah’s long-term replacement, and Liverpool would advance as the goal-scoring load was transferred from the winger to a number nine with plenty of options, such as Darwin Nez.

The manager Roy Hodgson has ruled him out for the foreseeable future after he underwent surgery for a “serious” hamstring injury, which is an important point to emphasize here (per the Evening Standard). He would also not be able to have an immediate impact.

While it is a factor, the initial estimates indicated he could be sidelined for up to three months (per The Athletic). However, if he performs to his full potential, this setback might not even be noticed.

Of course, Liverpool has already expressed interest in Cheick Doucouré, a teammate of Olise’s who is reportedly valued at $90 million (£70 million/€81 million), as it seeks to fill a void in the number six position (per The Mail).

It might be worthwhile for the Reds to consider a daring double raid in order to make up for its earlier error of failing to sign Olise.