The 20-year-old became Patrick Vieira's first Palace signing of the summer after impressing for Reading as a teenager, registering seven goals and 12 assists in the Championship in his first full season of professional football.
It was a ‘difficult first few months’ for Olise at Palace, says head coach Vieira, as he arrived carrying an injury, which held him to just two starts in 2021. However, since the turn of the year, Olise has been unleashed on defences up and down the country week in week out and proven himself to be quite the bargain at just £8m, ranking highly among Europe's top under-21 creators.
Think of Arjen Robben or Riyad Mahrez as the archetypal modern right-winger. Defenders try to show Olise down the line by cutting in on his preferred left foot, but he always finds a way back inside, and frequently to deadly effect.
Vieira is unsurprised by Olise's quality of play - ‘we knew how talented he was’ - and intends to keep hold of the winger for a ‘long period.’ Olise's adaptability has impressed Palace manager Alan Pardew, who has used him as a No 10 in recent weeks, but he believes ‘he needs to improve out of possession’ if he is to develop into a ‘complete player.’
The Hammersmith native's road to the Premier League hasn't been easy, as he spent time in the academies of Chelsea and Manchester City before breaking through at Reading. But, with elite teams such as Bayern Munich and Arsenal reportedly interested in him, he is now demonstrating that he has the ability to reach the top.
Across Europe's top five leagues, no player under the age of 21 has registered more assists per 90 minutes (0.5), with Olise effectively averaging one every other game since the start of the season, outperforming Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala, Borussia Dortmund's Jude Bellingham and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka.
In addition to that, Olise has the third-highest goal contributions per 90 minutes excluding penalties across the same category (0.7), with only Bayer Leverkusen's Florian Wirtz (0.83) and Reims' Hugo Ekitike (0.79) - a £33m target for Newcastle in January - boasting a superior return.
If we look at his numbers since the start of 2022 - when Olise has started all but two of Palace's games - the midfielder has maintained his levels of productivity and continues to rank highly among the top U21 creators across the Premier League and Europe.
No U21 player in England's top flight has registered as many assists (3) as Olise in 2022, with only Saka able to match his goal involvements (4) in that period, excluding penalties. England international Saka is the only U21 player who has created more chances per 90 minutes in the Premier League this season.
