Olise, a 19-year-old attacking midfielder, has signed a five-year contract with the club as Palace’s first arrival since Patrick Vieira’s appointment as manager.
Palace sign Michael Olise from Reading
Crystal Palace have completed the signing of highly-rated teenager Michael Olise from Reading.
01 / 09
The Hammersmith-born teenager moves to south London after a season with Reading that saw him earn seven goals and 12 assists from 46 games.
Olise started his youth career with Chelsea, before joining Manchester City and then Reading, where he worked his way through the system and earned a first-team debut in March 2019, aged just 17. This achievement – and three further senior appearances – secured Olise Reading’s Scholar of the Season Award for 2018/19.
He enjoyed more minutes with the Royals in 19/20 and scored his first professional goal in September 2019 against Barnsley.
But it was in 20/21 where Olise’s name truly came to the fore, with the promising youngster scooping a trio of awards for his impressive performances: EFL Young Player of the Season, and inclusion in the Championship Team of the Season as well as the PFA's Championship Team of the Year.
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Internationally, the attacking midfielder has represented France Under-18s in the Toulon Tournament.
Having put pen to paper with the club, Olise said: “It’s a big moment - Premier League football. It’s a great club and I’m very excited to be here. Good players, a good manager, so I’m ready to start.”
Discussing Olise’s arrival, Chairman Steve Parish said: “I’m delighted that Michael has joined us at Crystal Palace. We have been monitoring him extremely closely for an extended period of time, and have been impressed by his consistent performances for Reading at such a young age.
“He clearly has an abundance of talent that I’m sure will excite all of our supporters, and clearly shows our direction of travel for this window.”
Manager Vieira added: “We have the tools in our football club to make him a better player, and we’ve known him quite well because he’s a player the football club have been following for a long time. I think it is important to refresh the squad, to bring some new faces, to bring young talent here, and this is a really good signing for us.”