Crystal Palace have made some shrewd signings in the last couple of summer transfer windows.
In the summer of 2021, when the club lost several players through free transfers, Palace signed some top young players who have since become key parts of the current set-up.
One such player is Michael Olise.
Olise was signed from Reading at the back of an impressive season in the EFL Championship.
The visualisation below shows where Olise ranks for some key metrics compared to other players in a similar position in the Premier League 2023.
Only two other players have more assists than Michael Olise this season so far.
At the time of writing, Olise has 10 assists to his name — the same as Mohamed Salah and Riyad Mahrez and only one less than Bukayo Saka.
Olise has formed an impressive partnership with Eberechi Eze in Palace’s attack.
The Frenchman plays on the right side of an attacking 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1.
Quick and nippy on the ball, Olise is one of the most dangerous dribblers in the league — ranking 92nd percentile for dribbles per 90 minutes.
A number of the chances he creates for his teammates come out of situations where he decides to take on opposition players and breeze past them to make a cut back into the box.
Over the years, he has been not that much of a goalscorer.
Olise has found the back of the net only two times this season — one of which was that impressive free-kick against Manchester United.
Defensively, he is also very hard-working and runs up and down the pitch to win duels, ranking above average in the percentage of duels won.
Recently, Olise has been one of the first names in the playing XI for France’s Junior teams.
He is not far away from making an appearance for the senior team as well, but in this year’s U21 Euros, Olise is definitely one to watch out for as he prepares to take the next step in his career.
