Why Michael Olise chose Bayern Munich instead of Chelsea, Man Utd and others - explained

Michael Olise has completed his move to Bayern Munich from Crystal Palace, bringing an end to one of the summer’s biggest transfer sagas.

The 22-year-old has put pen to paper on a contract running until 2029 at the Allianz Arena, with Bayern stumping up £45m to sign the winger, with a further £5m potentially due in bonuses.

The Bavarian giants beat a number of top Premier League sides to Olise’s signature, with the Frenchman bringing down the curtain on his stay in England.

So why did Olise pick Bayern? Who were the other suitors and why did they fail? 90min has the answers for you.

Olise's motivations and Bayern's commitment

First and foremost, 90min understands Bayern were the only interested party that were willing to meet both Olise and Palace’s financial demands.

However, that wasn’t the sole reason or driving force behind his choice. Sources have described Olise as a ‘meticulous decision-maker’ who wanted each offer presented to him before deciding on which club to advance talks with, informing Palace he wanted to be notified of when these bids arrived - he wanted full control of his destiny.

Olise was also disappointed on missing out on France’s squad for Euro 2024 and is now determined to be on the plane for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. A move to Bayern, where he will be consistently playing Champions League and challenging for titles, felt to him like the best chance of improving those odds.

Despite being overlooked for the Euros, Olise has been called into France’s squad for this summer’s Olympics on home soil, giving him an opportunity to stay in the international conversation and force his way into the senior setup. Bayern gave him the green light to play in Paris, which was another positive in their favour.

France’s Olympics coach Thierry Henry is convinced Olise will use the Olympics to send a message to senior boss Didier Deschamps and has already decided against representing England.

"We know that he has plenty of possibilities but he wants to play for France," said Henry, also noting Olise is eligible for Nigeria and Algeria.

"You have to highlight his desire to show that he wants to play for the French team.

"If he was English, he’d have already left to play for England. He could have made the other choice and played the Euros with the England team, like his teammate, Eberechi Eze at Crystal Palace, but he wants to play for France."

Chelsea backed away

Olise was the subject of an approach from Chelsea last summer when the Blues thought they had activated a complicated release clause in his Palace contract. Though Chelsea backed away when Palace threatened legal action over tapping up the player, they maintain they did no wrongdoing.

Chelsea remained interested in signing Olise this summer but they were not willing to meet his wage demands, despite reports suggesting personal terms had been agreed. The club also believed Olise had his sights set on Bayern regardless.

The Blues are in the market for both wingers and forwards.

Man Utd decided against pursuit

90min revealed in February there was a strong chance that Manchester United would move for Olise as he was hugely appreciated by both their old and new regimes following INEOS’ onboarding.

However, United ultimately came to the conclusion that there were simply too many other positions in their squad to try and fill this summe,r with finding at least one centre-back and striker the priority.

Newcastle struggled to meet demands

An outside contender for Olise were Newcastle, who were heavily linked with a move over the last month. Newcastle are expected to try and sign a right winger to complement left winger Anthony Gordon and striker Alexander Isak.

But 90min understands the Magpies’ confidence in landing Olise was never strong, while they would have struggled to match the finances on offer in rival bids. They did formally approach Palace, but knew other suitors were ahead of them in the race, especially after they failed to qualify for Europe.

Newcastle would have also had to break their wage structure and make Olise their highest-paid player, while stumping up an acceptable transfer fee would have required them to sell a key player or send someone back to Palace in part-exchange.

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