Crystal Palace primed to sign Michael Olise replacement after failing to secure Arsenal transfer

Crystal Palace are reportedly primed to find a replacement for star player Michael Olise after missing out on a coveted Arsenal talent.

Olise was a revelation for Palace last season, scoring 10 goals and bagging six assists in just 19 games. Had it not been for a recurring hamstring injury, the France Under-21 international could have had a remarkable campaign.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, that form was always going to attract interest from the biggest teams in Europe, with Chelsea, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich registering an interest in the 22-year-old.

In the end, Olise, who joined Palace for £8m in 2021 from Reading, signed a five-year deal with German giants Bayern for approximately £50m earlier this summer.

More strife may fall upon Palace fans, however, with England centre-back Marc Guehi and attacking midfielder Eberechi Eze likely to attract interest from sides in and outside the Premier League.

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With Olise’s departure, the club’s fans were clamouring for the south London outfit to find a replacement, to soften the blow of Elise’s sizeable exit.

One man who they tracked for quite some time was Arsenal attacker Emile Smith Rowe. The 23-year-old has struggled for game time in recent seasons at the Gunners and Palace did their best to try and bring him to Selhurst Park.

Crystal Palace miss out on Arsenal man

Smith Rowe was then left out of Arsenal’s pre-season draw with Bournemouth in the United States on Thursday, with manager Mikel Arteta hinting at a possible departure for their academy product.

The Gunners boss said: “Yeah, there are things happening in the background at the moment and we decided the best thing to do was to keep him [Smith Rowe] away from the game today.”

After having a £30m bid rejected for Smith Rowe, Fulham seem to have pipped Palace to his signature, with the Cottagers close to reaching an agreement in the region of £35m.

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Hot on the heels of that disappointment, however, Oliver Glasner’s Palace look set to secure their third signing of the transfer window, following the arrivals of Daichi Kamada from Lazio and Chadi Riad from Real Betis.

Olise replacement secured

According to The Athletic, Palace have agreed to sign Ismaila Sarr from Marseille for £12.6m. The winger made a name for himself at Watford between 2019-23 – where he scored 34 goals in 131 games.

The Senegal international then signed for Marseille last year but the former Rennes man underwhelmed during his stint with the Ligue 1 outfit.

Despite that, Palace have swooped in for the 26-year-old, with personal terms reportedly in place and a medical is set to follow.

Although a ‘number of clubs’ were interested in signing Sarr, Palace look like they have got their man.